一起來看看:中國宏偉的新運河即將完工

Vast new waterways will not solve China's desperatewater shortages

即使接通了新的水道，中國的水資源短缺問題依然無法得到解決

Soon the centrepiece of one of China's mostspectacular engineering projects will be completed, with the opening ofsluicegates into a canal stretching over 1,200km(750 miles) from the Yangzi river north to the capital, Beijing. The newchannel is only part of the world's biggest water-diversion scheme. More than300,000 people have been kicked out to make way for the channel and theexpansion of a reservoir in central China that will feed it. But the governmentis in a hurry, and has paid their complaints little heed.

很快，中國最宏偉工程之一的主要部分即將完成，屆時揚子江的河水將流經1200公里抵達北京。這條水道還僅僅是這整個宏偉項目的一部分。這條水道的挖掘以及其水源地中國中部一個水庫的擴張導致30萬人搬遷。但是政府很着急，所以對人們的抱怨不管不顧。

China's leaders see the so-called South-North WaterDiversion Project, which has already cost tens of billions of dollars, ascrucial to solving a water problem that threatens the country's development andstability (see article). Grain-growing areas around Beijing have about as much water perperson as such arid countries as Niger and Eritrea. Overuse has causedthousands of rivers to disappear. The amount of water available is diminishingfast as the water table drops and rivers dry up; what little is left is oftentoo polluted even for industrial use. The World Bank has said that China'swater crisis costs the country more than 2% of GDP, mostly because of damage tohealth. The new supply's arrival in Beijing will thus come as a huge relief toofficials. Indeed, so desperate is the lack of water that some have in the pastsuggested such drastic answers as moving the capital.

爲了解決可威脅經濟發展和穩定的水資源問題，中國領導人將這個耗資巨資的南水北調工程看成是解決問題的關鍵。北京周邊地區的糧食產地其人均水資源相當於乾旱國家尼日爾和厄立特里亞國的水平。水資源的過度使用使得大量河流乾涸。隨着地下水位的下降和河流的乾涸，可用的水資源在不斷減少；而那些沒幹涸的河流，由於污染嚴重，連用來進行工業生產都不合格。世界銀行稱中國的水危機使中國的DGP損失了2%多，主要是衛生健康上的危害。因此，即將抵達北京的這些水資源將官員鬆一口氣。確實如此，北京的水資源是如此的缺乏，過去還有人建議遷都。

Yet China's water problem will remain unsolved. Thecanal is the second leg of the diversion project; the first, which opened lastyear in eastern China, brings water from the south along the route of the oldGrand Canal, built 1,400 years ago, to the northern plain. Neither will provemore than temporary palliatives as demand continues to soar and pollutionremains widespread. China's water crisis cannot be tackled by showymega-projects. Misguided policy is as much to blame as a mismatch in supplybetween the water-rich south and the arid north. A new approach to watermanagement, rather than more concrete, is needed.

然而，中國水問題依然無法得到解決。該水道是南水北調工程中的第二條；第一條於去年在中國東部開通，沿着1400年前所建的大運河的路線將南水北調。這些措施都只能暫時緩解北方水資源的缺乏，因爲需求在不斷增加，污染也依然廣泛。中國的水危機靠這些大工程是無法解決的。南方水資源多，北方水資源少，這是自然資源的不協調分佈，而被誤導的政策同樣是導致中國水危機的原因之一。所以需要採用新的方法對水資源進行管理，而不僅僅是工程建設那麼簡單。

Send them the bill

給他們寄去賬單

The solution is simple: China needs to price itswater properly. Prices have risen a bit recently, but even in places wherewater is scarce it is ridiculously cheap, and as a result there is colossalwaste. Beijing is ringed with water-hungry golf courses for the eholders are scarcely aware that water has a value. Planners fail to takethe cost of water into account, so provincial governments enticewater-intensive firms to invest in desert areas and officials designatedrought-prone regions as the sites of vast new cities. Raising the price ofwater in places where it is in short supply would discourage investment in suchareas.

問題的解決很簡單：中國要給水資源進行適當的定價。水的價格最近漲了一點，但是即使是在水資源嚴重缺乏的地區，水的價格還是非常低廉，因此導致了巨大的浪費。北京有爲精英們服務的水需求量巨大的高爾夫球場。家家戶戶很少意識到水的價值。規劃者沒有將水的成本計算進去，於是省政府就吸引耗水量大的企業到沙漠地區投資，還在易乾旱地區建造巨大的新城。在水資源稀缺的地區提高水價就可以避免人們在這裏大量投資。

The Maoist obsession with food self-sufficiencycompounds the problem. The arid northern plain, home to 200m people, produces water-hungry crops such as wheatand corn. Nearly 70% of water consumed in the area is used for agriculture. Itis time for China to abandon autarkic thinking and import more food.

糧食自給自足的毛澤東主義也加劇了這一問題。兩億人口的乾旱北方平原生產耗水量大的小麥和玉米。該地區幾乎70%的水都用於農業灌溉。所以中國是時候拋棄自給自足的思想並更多的進口食物了。

Last year the Communist Party pledged to let marketforces play a decisive role in allocating resources such as water, land andelectricity. If it did so in the case of water, it would reap many lopment would become more environmentally friendly, China could devote itscapital and remarkable engineering skills to projects more productive thanshipping water around the country—and everybody would save a great deal ofmoney.

去年，中共承諾將讓市場力量在資源的分配中扮演決定性的角色，比如水，土地和電力。如果真的在水資源方面履行這樣的承諾的話，那將有很多的好處。經濟發展將變得更加的環境友好，中國就可以把自己的資本和工程技術投在更加具有效益的項目中去，而不是將水全國運輸——這樣各方都能省下一大筆錢。