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)

Hot air balloons fly over the sky in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, December 6, 2014. The two-day International Balloon festival 2014 featuring balloon pilots from Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Britain, and Czech Republic is held on December 06-07 2014 to celebrate Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 87th birthday and also aimed to promote the tourism industry in Chiang Mai northern city. (Photo by Pongmanat Tasiri/EPA)

Sandra Brown, 40, rides the Skyslide on the 69th and 70th floors of the U.S. Bank Tower which is attached to the OUE Skyspace LA observation deck in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 20, 2016. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

A kid wearing rollerblades hitches a ride via motorbike, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, October 25, 2015. The country held the first-round presidential vote Sunday. Haitians chose between 54 presidential hopefuls and a slew of legislative and municipal candidates. (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AP Photo)

Christian Bale poses for a fan at the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, January 27, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

People look at a tanker after it fell into a caved-in area on a road in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, July 27, 2013. No casualty was reported in the accident, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A model falls while displaying a design from Wu Xuewei and Wu Xuekai, winners of the Asahi Kasei China Fashion Designer Award during China Fashion Week held in Beijing, China, Friday, October 29, 2010. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)