Growing cities, overuse of fertilizers and factory wastewater have degraded China's water supplies to the extent that half the nation's rivers and lakes are severely polluted. China aims to spend $850 billion to improve filthy water supplies over the next decade, but even such huge outlays may do little to reverse damage caused by decades of pollution and overuse in Beijing's push for rapid economic growth. Photo: Fishermen row a boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, Anhui province, June 19, 2009. (Photo by Jianan Yu/Reuters)

Firefighters and emergency personnel climb the stairs during the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb at the Crown Metropol Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia, 10 September 2022. The Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb features firefighters and emergency personnel climbing 28 flights of stairs wearing 25kgs of turnout gear to raise money for mental health. (Photo by Con Chronis/EPA/EFE)

People wearing costumes attend the annual water-splashing festival to mark the New Year of the Dai minority in Jinghong, Yunnan province, April 13, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Japan's computer giant Fujitsu employee displays the world's first personal computer with Intel's RealSense 3D camera “FMV Esprimo” in Tokyo on October 9, 2014. The new desktop PC with 23-inch LCD display can make avatars which mimic the user's look and motion for chatting on the Internet. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

The crowd watches as stunt pilots Melissa Pemberton, Jurgis Kairys and Skip Stewart of The Immortals fly past pyrotechnics as they perform at The Australian International Airshow on March 1, 2015 in Avalon, Australia. (Photo by Scott E. Barbour/Getty Images)

Martin Lacey Jr. with a lion during the premiere of the Circus Krone program “Circus der Preistraeger” at Circus Krone on February 2, 2016 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

A vendor prepares paan, a betel nut-based chewable stimulant at a flower market in Kolkata, India, January 18, 2016. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A visitor looks at a creation by Russian artist Irina Nakhova presented at the Russia's pavilion during the 56th International Art Exhibition (Biennale d'Arte) titled “All the Worlds Futures” on May 5, 2015 in Venice. (Photo by Gabriel Bouys/AFP Photo)