24岁的农民李彦博住在距昆明60公里的嵩明县李关村。由于村里{wy}的水库已干涸，在过去的三个月里，他一直起早去消防车那里打水。已经6个月没有下雨了。

Li, a 24-year-old farmer, lives in Liguan village, Songming county – about 60km away from Kunming. For the last three months, he has risen early to meet the fire truck because the village’s only reservoir has dried up. Rain hasn’t fallen for six months.

李彦博赶到那时已经排起了长龙。来自600多户，约4000多名缺少饮用水的村民手里拿着空水桶，站在消防车后方。

The queue is extremely long by the time Li arrives. About 4,000 thirsty villagers, representing some 600 households, come with their empty buckets and stand behind the truck.

李彦博说：“我家每天能得到两三桶水。这些水可做饮用，洗衣，做饭等用途。如果每天能攒下一点，那我们每周可以稍稍冲一下澡。”

“My family gets two or three buckets of water every day. We use them for drinking, washing and cooking,” said Li. “If we save a little every day, then once a week we can have a brief shower.”

去年秋天李彦博种了两亩蚕豆，但由于干旱颗粒无收。放在平常季节，收割大豆后他就会开始种植稻米。但是地里旱得厉害，他甚至都没办法耕田。

Li planted two mu of broad beans last autumn, but he has seen no yield because of the drought. During a normal season, he would plant rice after harvesting the beans. But the field is so dry that he can’t even plough it.

李彦博说：“大米是我们全家（包括父母和弟弟）的食物。我们没有多余的钱来买大米。”

“The rice is food for my family – my parents and younger brother. We have no budget to buy rice from the market,” said Li.

同村里大多数人一样，李彦博的家里也是靠种烟草维生。通常，三亩烟叶可以带来近一万元的收益。但现在，没有水来播种，就连他们{wy}的收入来源也枯竭了。

Like most people in his village, growing tobacco provides the family’s meal ticket. Normally, Li’s three mu of tobacco earns him near 10,000 yuan. But now, with no water for seeding, their only source of income has dried up.

当地政府正在寻找新水源，来帮助千千万万像李彦博这样的家庭。上周国土资源部正式宣布，截止至5月底，将在包括嵩明县在内的10个县区挖掘1100口新水井。但对此李彦博并不十分乐观。

Local governments are trying to help families like Li’s by hunting for new water resources. The Ministry of Land and Resources announced last week that 1,100 new wells would be dug in 10 counties, including Li’s, by the end of May. But Li is not very optimistic.

李彦博说：“我邻居家就有一口井。过去井水是满的，你不用绳子就能打到水，但现在那口井已经枯了。所以即使在其他地方打一口新井，也可能是相同的结果。”

“My neighbor has a well. In the past, it was full and you could get water without using a rope, but now it is empty,” said Li. “So even if you dig a new well in some other place, the result will likely be the same.”

李彦博认为，合理防旱的方法不仅局限如此，像植树就是个可行的办法。

In Li’s opinion, there are more sustainable ways to prevent a drought, such as planting more trees.

树木凭借他们庞大的根系来储藏水源。但在过去的18年里，云南的森林覆盖率已从63%减少到33%。

Trees conserve water with their large roots. But in Yunnan, forest coverage has decreased from 63 percent to 33 percent over the last 18 years.

李彦博说：“小时候，父亲会带我上山并告诉我他年轻时是如何砍柴引火的。如今，由于没有树木来保障地下水源供给，水库周围变得寸草不生。”

“When I was a child, my father would take me up the mountain and tell me how he used to cut down trees and use them as firewood when he was young,” said Li. “Now the land around the reservoir is barren – there are no trees protecting the underground water supply.”

他表示，旱情真实地验证了节约用水的重要性。

Li says the drought has served as a reality check on the importance of water conservation.

“从中我也学到了，如果我们合理用水，两桶水就足够一家四口{yt}的用水量。我们可以从多种途径对其循环利用。每滴水都弥足珍贵。我希望人们能意识到这点。”

“It has taught me that, if we use water efficiently, two buckets a day should be enough for four family members. We can recycle the water for multiple uses,” said Li. “Every drop of water is precious. I hope people realize this.”