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BEIJING, March 22-- A week of saving water began in China Thursday, in celebration of this year's World Water Day, taking the country another step closer to realizing the dream of beautiful, green nation. Following the creation of new environmental authorities, China is now better equipped to juggle growth and conservation. "Let saving water be the task of all Chinese," the People's Daily said in a Thursday article. Water shortages are particularly tough for China, as per capita water resources are less than a third of the world average. About two thirds of Chinese cities face water shortages to some extent. To encourage people to think more deeply about their water supply, Binzhou City, Shandong Province on Thursday encouraged citizens to turn off their water for a few hours to find out exactly how a water shortage felt. In central China's Hunan province, a data base now allows local river chiefs tasked with fighting water pollution to access a wide range of information to help in their work. Saving water, however, is only one thing China must work on to become a beautiful nation of clean air, clear water and green mountains. A week of saving water is definitely not enough. That will require institutional reform and strong government action. NEW INSTITUTIONS Across the country, river chiefs, bay chiefs and lake chiefs are taking up their posts. Along China's longest inland river, the Tarim, in Xinjiang, 285 river chiefs have been appointed to be directly accountable for the quality of water under their supervision. | 
