Central China's Henan Province will lead the nation in launching a program to protect groundwater on its land under the auspices of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources.

A provincial official said they hoped that by the year 2010, the groundwater level of the area where water has been over-drained will rise by four to six meters through implementation of the protection program.

The program requires construction of 69 works, including water-efficient and sewage water-recycling facilities and installation of groundwater alarm devices. It will cost 3.44 billion yuan (about US$415 million).

Henan is a water deficient region. Over-exploitation of groundwater has threatened sustainability in social and economic development in this central Chinese province.

Ground cave-ins are easily found in cities such as Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, and the ecological environment has been worsening in many places of the province due to the over-exploitation of groundwater. Problems include shrinking wetland, drying-up of water-bearing strata, and serious desertification of the land.

Apart from the central and provincial financing, Henan will also levy water resource fees and hike water prices to pool more funds for the protection of groundwater, said the official.