Waterkeeper safeguards village\'s only water source

Droughts in southwest China’s Guizhou have caused hardship for many residents. Many reservoirs and rivers have dried up. In Bei Ping Village, one resident is responsible for safeguarding the village’s only water source. Xi Yunzhi was selected by the village committee of Bei Ping to manage the only water source left... in this cave. He’s an electrician. Almost all the pumping devices in the cave have been installed by him. He said, “The main task is to check whether the pipes are good or not, and make sure the electricity is being used safely.” The conditions inside the cave are not ideal. It’s cold and slippery. But Xi Yunzhi has to spend several hours a day there. For convenience, Xi has even brought his bed to the cave. For Xi Yunzhi, the most worrying thing is that the water level is below the water pump. When that happens, he needs to turn off the electricity and make the pipes longer. If he doesn’t do that, the water pump gets burnt out. So, he can sleep well only when he can hear the sound of water pumping. And because of all his hard efforts, a good supply of drinking and irrigation water is guaranteed. The villagers are grateful to him. At around six o’clock in the afternoon, Xi goes back home to have his dinner. But it wasn’t always like this. His wife did not want him to do the job at first. She said, “At the beginning, I asked him not to do it. If the villagers supported him, I would agree to it. But, most of them did not and blamed him for the lack of water. So, I was quite frustrated with the situation. ” After water began being pumped to the village, residents started to praise Xi, and his wife also feels pride in her husband’s work now. After dinner, Xi goes back to the cave. The first thing to do is to make sure the water is being pumped efficiently. Listening to the sound of the pumps, Xi says he can now have a good night’s sleep.