BEIJING - A continued lack of rain since the beginning of this year has aggravated a drought in south China's island province of Hainan, where more than one million people face grave shortages of drinking water, state media said Thursday.
The drought has affected more than half the province, the Xinhua news agency said.
According to the provincial office for flood control and drought relief, some 237,900 domestic animals in the province were also facing shortages of drinking water, and more than 230,000 acres (92,000 hectares) of arable land was drying out.
The average rainfall across Hainan was 533 millimeters (21 inches) during the first three months this year, 21.3 percent less than the same period last year and 35.6 percent less than the average rainfall during the last 30 years, the office's figures show.
The amount of water in local reservoirs is also down drastically, press reports said, with fears of forest fires rising.
By the end of March, the province had 1.9 billion cubic meters (66 billion cubic feet) of reservoir water, only some 27 percent of the normal amount, Xinhua said.
The lengthy drought has also caused over 1,000 small reservoirs and pools, some 1,500 motor-pumped wells and 14 small rivers to dry up completely.
The water level in 11 medium-sized reservoirs has also fallen to warning lines.
04/07/2005 05:16 GMT