Farmlands in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will be short of 1.9 billion cubic meters water this spring, said an official with the regional water conservancy department Thursday.

Zhang Jinmin, vice director of the flood control and drought relief office under the water conservancy department said that the warm 2006 winter with its little snow, and this spring's high temperatures, meant that farmlands are threatened with a severe water shortage.

Xinjiang is a typical drought and semi-drought region and is facing a severe seasonal water shortage, said the regional weather bureau. Rainfall in north Xinjiang this year is 50 percent down on normal years, and down an alarming 90 percent in the southern part of the region.

Farmland, grasslands and pastures are all suffering from drought, creating drinking water difficulties for both people and cattle.

Local governments are testing innovative water-saving irrigation systems, adjusting crop structures, and digging new wells to relieve drought.

The drought situation is unlikely to improve over the next two months, with temperatures in most parts of Xinjiang remaining above average, and little rainfall in south Xinjiang.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2007)