SHIJIAZHUANG, Dec. 11-- North China's Hebei Province, a very dry region, is promoting water-saving agriculture and improved urban water supplies.

A differential pricing scheme for tap water will come into force for urban residents in Hebei next year, said Zhang Tielong, deputy head of the Hebei Water Resource Department. Urban households will pay more if the volume of tap water they use exceeds the basic allowance.

By February next year, the province will have invested 7.4 billion yuan (1.2 billion U.S. dollars) in water saving irrigation, which can reduce groundwater exploitation by 760 million cubic meters.

Agriculture accounts for more than 70 percent of water use in Hebei.

Hebei will cut excessive industrial capacity in iron and steel, cement and glass, all major consumers of water.

Currently, more than 90 percent of urban households in Hebei have water saving instruments.

The usable water resource in Hebei is about 15 billion cubic meters each year, about 5 billion cubic meters short of the requirement. The per-capita water resource in Hebei is 307 cubic meters, or one seventh of the average level in the country.

Groundwater has been over-exploited for years on over 67,000 sq km in Hebei, one third of the total over-exploited area in the whole country.

Wetlands in Hebei have shrunk by 70 percent compared with the 1950s.

More than 5.6 million rural people still face drinking water safety problems and drought causes temporary difficulties for half a million in Hebei each year.

Projects diverting water from the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, the country's longest and second longest, will ease Hebei's water shortage, but cannot completely solve the problem, according to the official.

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