In Langtougou, the water table has also dropped from less than a metre below the surface to about three metres below. Langtougou's troubles have drawn special scrutiny because the Chaobai River, which trickles to the sand's surface further down the valley, is the source of almost half of Beijing's drinking water, says Cui, the forester. Zhu and other leaders have visited, and promised relief supplies of grain. Cui is encouraging the villagers to sell their goat herds and buy milk cows to be kept in pens and fed with grass cut from the hillsides. He hopes to replant the valley with windbreaks of poplar alternated with patches of grass.
Pastures are to be fenced off to prevent grazing.
Countrywide, the government has ordered bans on logging in many areas. Still, some conservationists believe those plans are unlikely to succeed unless they accompany broader changes in the cities, where water remains relatively cheap and the demand for fresh meat seems insatiable. People take eating mutton for granted these days. But the sheep are grazing pastures bare. To get something, you have to give something up.