Years of neglect and illadvised environmental policies have left China facing a water shortage of monumental proportions.

As the country's population continues to grow, there are fears that within a generation there will simply not be enough water to go round.

The Chinese government plans to secure additional water resources by cutting usage, reusing supplies, utilizing rainwater more effectively and improving dilapidated dams. Yet even these measures will not be enough to meet demand in metropolitan areas, said professor Wang Hao of the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research.

By 2036, when the country's population is expected to peak, water use will have increased by an estimated 30 percent, resulting in a shortage of 61 billion cubic meters, said Wang, who serves as director of the institute's Department of Water Resources.

One reason for the problem has been China's rapid development.

"We overlooked environmental problems," said one government official. "Maintenance of drainage did not keep up with the expansion of manufacturing."

Professor Wu Jisong of the Ministry of Water Resources agreed.

"Officials in charge of managing water resources did not manage the water supply," he said. "Those responsible for drainage did not manage pollution and waste, while those in charge of polluted water did not come up with ways to reuse it."

Now that the extent of the country's water problems has been realized, the policymaking situation has started to improve.

New bureaus responsible for water have been set up in China's major cities, Wu said. Under the new system, water policy is divided into various categories, including environmental protection, water for personal consumption and water for industry. Priority is given to protecting the environment, he said.

The bureaus are also planning measures to encourage the public to reduce water use, including by raising prices.

Another advantage of higher prices would be that water companies could profit by preparing used water for reuse. Indeed, some such companies in south China have already attracted foreign capital.

A further way in which China is addressing its water crisis is through the South-to- North Water Transfer Project, under which the precious resource will be transferred from the Chang Jiang to northern China. The project is expected to cover about 45 percent of the country's estimated eventual water shortage.

Wu laughed at the idea that funneling water from the Chang Jiang to the Huang He might affect the Chang Jiang's water levels and biosphere.

"About 1 trillion cubic meters of water a year flows through the Chang Jiang. We are trying to transport just 4 percent of that amount," he said. "The project will develop the biosphere, not destroy it."

China's water crisis developed not only as a result of poor water-related policymaking, but also because of broader policy decisions that had disastrous consequences for the environment.

"The mistaken national policy of cultivating forested land destroyed massive areas of forests," said one government policy-maker.

In August 1998, China experienced disastrous flooding from the Chang Jiang. Scientists blamed the disaster on the erosion of earth and sand on the river's banks. If the banks had been forested, such erosion would not have occurred, they said.

The government immediately began discussing whether to reforest land on the banks that was being used to cultivate vegetables. The policy was agreed on in October that year and implemented in 1999.

The Chinese government's ability to implement new policies so rapidly has undoubtedly helped lessen the country's water crisis. The introduction of measures depriving farmers of their land and a water transfer project set to uproot tens of thousands of people would no doubt have faced much stiffer resistance in the West.

But officials at the Forestry Bureau in Chongqing said farmers are lining up to exchange their fields for generous compensation in the form of both cash and food.

China is a country whose regions are not only distant from one another geographically, but also decades apart in terms of development. Beneath the skyscrapers of Shanghai stroll fashionable teenagers with little to distinguish them from their Japanese peers. But at the same time in Yunnan province, women stagger beneath the weight of firewood that they carry on their backs as they return to their povertystricken villages.

In such a sprawling nation of tremendous contrasts, the problems policy-makers face are understandable. The hope is that the Great Western Development Strategies, a set of policies the government has implemented to narrow the country's developmental divides, will respect the need to protect the environment.

Perhaps, as a result of its water crisis, China has learned some vital lessons.