Central China Hit by Drought, as Reservoirs Become ‘Dead Water’

A severe drought along the Yangtze River region in central China has rendered nearly 1,400 reservoirs in Hubei Province temporarily unusable, devastated farm fields and made drinking water scarce, according to a report on Monday by Xinhua, the state news agency. One-fourth of all small reservoirs had what officials called “dead water” remaining, which could be pumped for use only in an emergency.