A three-year drought in Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong Province is seriously effecting the city's supply of drinking water.

This is the most serious drought to hit the city in the last 100 years, according to the Guangdong Provincial Observatory.

The drought began in the autumn of 2003.

Reservoirs reported an alarming drop in water levels over the past two years.

About 138,467 hectares of farmland and 512,000 people are affected by the drought, according to the Zhanjiang municipal government.

Long-term weather forecasts are not predicting increased precipitation.

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2006)