ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of Beijing's water resources and the resultant environmental problems. It analyses the nation's policy of industrial development, which has fundamentally changed the morphology and the economic structure of China's large and medium-sized cities, as the policy applies to Beijing and the use of the city's water resources. Various government agencies in Beijing have attempted to estimate the total amount of water, both surface and groundwater, that may be available to the city. Urban Beijing has serious problems of water pollution as a consequence of the overdevelopment of heavy industry and the lack of effective actions on environmental protection. China's environmental policy, or the lack of it, plays an even more important role. To a large extent, the problems of Beijing's water are a result of the lack of effective environmental policies. The problems of Beijing's water resources must be dealt with immediately to ensure the quantity and quality of the city's future water supply.
