(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-05 16:44

BEIJING -- Chairman Mao would likely be dismayed if he could visit the Xiangjiang River in central China's Hunan Province in this modern era. The waterway he once described as a "river roaring northward" was now more like a "river raring for water".

At the Changsha reach, the Xiangjiang River is currently experiencing water shortage, the worst for more than 30 years. A severe autumn drought that continues to linger in south China is to blame.

The declining water level was also posing a potential threat to the lives of residents in Changsha City, the Hunan capital.

According to Changsha Hydraulic Bureau statistics, the water level of Xiangjiang River at Changsha fell to 25.24 meters Monday, four centimeters lower than the day before. It was only seven centimeters above the record low set on November 10.

At a local community in the Jinwanzi, residents have been told to store water in case of shortage because of low pressure on the water grid.

The local water company, however, said the low pressure may be due to road maintenance rather than water shortage.

"We have channeled water from a nearby river to relieve the shortage in the Xiangjiang River," an unnamed official from the Changsha Hydraulic Bureau told a local newspaper.

But he also warned that the life of local residents would be threatened if the water level continued to fall.

Hunan Provincial Hydraulic Bureau experts attributed the shortage to low precipitation and an inadequate water supply from the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River.

The declining water level was common in China as this year the country's average rainfall in November was at its lowest level since 1989.

China's three major rivers -- the Yangtze, the Yellow and the Zhujiang -- were all facing water shortage.

An expert at the National Climate Center said Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou provinces were all suffering severe drought.

In addition, the water level of Poyang Lake, the country's largest body of freshwater, is nearing a record low.