The northern region of China may soon be importing its freshwater fish after fish farms near Beijing were warned by authorities to conserve water.
Satellite measurements suggest the Beijing region (which sits on the borders of the Gobi Desert) is sinking at an increasing rate as the soil of the North China Plain (“like a sponge wrung dry,” by one account) compacts around aquifers depleted by soaring demand for water.
Published earlier this month in the journal Remote Sensing, the research shows the deepest depression is in Beijing’s upmarket Chaoyang District, where groundwater depletion caused sinking of 4.3 inches in some places in just one year.
This research suggests dryer Chinese cities will need to cut back on aquaculture and find alternative supplies. The latest satellite data comes at the same time as a stern warning this month from Agriculture Minister Han Changfu, who told fisheries officials that “inefficient” and polluting aquaculture operations will face major pressure from local governments as China seeks to implement a national data collection system for monitoring water pollution.
