中國東部江蘇省發現當地一條河流氨氮濃度嚴重超標，地方政府本周被迫中斷20萬人的供水近兩天。
Authorities in China's eastern Jiangsu province cut off water supplies to 200,000 people for nearly two days this week after a local river was found with dangerous levels of ammonia nitrogen.
此次江蘇沭陽縣的斷水事件，是一系列影響到數百萬人的斷水污染丑聞中的最新一起。事件發生之時，一位高級環境官員警告稱，中國河流湖泊本已可怕的狀態仍在惡化。
The cut-off in Jiangsu's Shuyang city - the latest in a series of pollution scandals that have disrupted water supplies to millions - came as a top environment official warned that the already dire plight of Chinese rivers and lakes was still worsening.
中國國家環保總局(State Environmental Protection Administration)副局長潘岳表示："傳統工業化的增長方式已使中國資源環境到了難以承受的底線，人民群眾的日常生活受到嚴重威脅。"
"The traditional approach of growth through industrialisation has pushed China's resources and environment close to breaking point, and the daily lives of the people are seriously threatened," said Pan Yue, deputy head of the State Environmental Protection Administration.
潘岳在國家環保總局網站上一項聲明中表示："傳統的治理方式已不能解決積累的環境問題。"
"Traditional administration methods cannot resolve the accumulated environmental problems," Mr Pan said in a statement on Sepa's website.
世界銀行(World Bank)和政府研究人員最近估計，在中國，每年有6萬人因水質惡劣而早亡，主要集中在農村地區。
World Bank and government researchers recently estimated that 60,000 people in China are dying prematurely each year because of poor quality water, mainly in rural areas.
在中國的太湖、巢湖和滇池出現藻類大面積暴發之后，水污染問題已成為一個熱點話題。中國國務院總理溫家寶本月命令地方官員"強化監管，禁止工廠向湖泊排放污染物"。
Water pollution has become a hot topic following huge outbreaks of algae in China's Taihu, Chaohu and Dianchi lakes. Wen Jiabao, the premier, this month ordered local officials to "strengthen supervision and ban factories from discharging pollutants into the lakes".
但中國政府領導人經常作出這樣的指示，潘岳的話無疑表明，過去的措施沒有奏效。
But Beijing leaders have often issued such instructions, and Mr Pan of Sepa left no doubt that past approaches were not working.
在描述這一挑戰的規模時，潘岳表示，2006年七大水系Ⅴ類和劣Ⅴ類水質占26%。他表示，國家重點監控的9大湖泊中整體水質為Ⅴ類和劣Ⅴ類水質的就達7個。
In a description of the scale of the challenge, he said 26 per cent of water in China's seven biggest river systems had been found to be unable to support animal life, or was dangerous even to bathe in. He said seven of the nine main lakes monitored had been found to be "wholly" polluted.
"十多年來國家斥巨資治理'三河三湖'流域水污染，但治理的速度遠遠趕不上破壞的速度，"潘岳表示，"至今這些本已改善的流域又被重新污染。"
"For more than 10 years the state has spent huge sums to deal with pollution in the drainage areas of the 'three rivers and three lakes', but the pace of action has fallen far behind the pace of destruction," Mr Pan said. "Now areas that had improved are suffering renewed pollution."
