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Beijing, the capital of China, is characterized by intense water scarcity during the long dry season as well as heavy flooding during the brief wet season. Beijing is one of the most water-scarce cities in the world. Total water use is 3.6 billion cubic meters, compared to renewable fresh water resources of about 3 billion cubic meters. The difference is made up by the overexploitation of groundwater. Two-thirds of the water supply comes from groundwater, one third from surface water. Average rainfall has substantially declined since the 1950s. Furthermore, one of the two main rivers supplying the city, the Yongding River, had to be abandoned as a source of drinking water because of pollution. Water savings in industry and agriculture have compensated for these losses and freed up water for residential uses.
Water tariffs have been increased to provide an incentive to curb residential water demand, but the impact has been limited. Residential demand increases due to population growth, and the city taps new water sources. For example, water reclamation has been aggressively promoted since the turn of the century. The city's 15 central municipal wastewater treatment plants and more than 300 small, decentralized plants now provide reclaimed water for non-potable uses. An additional 1.2 billion cubic meter is expected to be provided through the southern section of the South-North Water Transfer Project's central route from the Han River, more than 1,000 km to the south, until the end of 2014. The supply of desalinated seawater from existing desalination plants near Tianjin is also being contemplated.