China's Flood Control Center has announced the completion of an emergency transfer of water from the Yellow River to Tianjin to alleviate the city's severe drought.

After the fourth emergency diversion since 2000, the authorities say the reservoir at Tianjin's Jiuxuan Gate now holds 430 million cubic meters of water. More than 900 million cubic meters of water have been transferred over the past 110 days, covering a distance of 580 kilometers. The reservoir supplies water to half the city's residents at a cost of more than 300 million yuan, or about US$38 million.

Meanwhile, the municipal government has taken various measures to economize on water use, including using water saving equipment, restricting usage, and recycling. But the government said industry and agriculture still have a shortfall of 2.4 billion cubic meters of water because of the last eight years of drought. There are plans to carry out another transfer of water this year.

(CCTV.com January 26, 2005)