ULAN BATOR, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia is working to establish an independent agency for water management, the country's Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh said Monday.
He made the statement during a meeting with water experts of the country, according to the government's press office.
"I have fully supported a proposal by water experts on establishing an agency which is in charge of the issues of the country's water," Khurelsukh said, adding that he has ordered relevant ministers to conduct research.
Mongolians' water consumption now lies at between 7 and 160 liters per day depending on where they live, which means that, compared with other countries, Mongolia ranks in the middle of the list of countries in the world by per capita water consumption, adequacy and hygiene of drinking water, N. Enkhbayar, an advisor to Khurelsukh, said on Thursday.
The Asian country boasts some 11,902 cubic meters of renewable internal freshwater resources per capita, according to data released by the World Bank in 2014.
Though the amount of water resources per capita in Mongolia looks abundant, the resources are unevenly distributed, with most rivers and lakes located in the northern mountainous regions of the landlocked country, while in other parts of the country, especially southern desert areas, underground sources account for 80 percent of total water consumption.
Around 30 percent of Mongolia's population has access to the water supply system. About 25 percent of the population receives water from the water transportation service, over 35 percent gets water from water supply points and less than 10 percent uses water from springs, rivers and snow water.
