…Over thirty years Shenmu became China’s top coal-producing county…in western China. But the coal boom was also accompanied by a host of environmental problems: land subsidence, dried-up rivers, and loss of vegetation, with knock-on effects for people’s livelihoods.

In 2008…Xinhua reported that 56.16 square kilometres of Shenmu’s land had been affected by subsidence from mining…6,700 villagers in 1,900 households becoming environmental refugees…[T]he county environmental bureau, said that at one point there were 300 mines operating in the area…The mining expansion caused a water crisis for the [River] Kuye. Water was diverted for mining and coal processing, and for use in coal-fired power plants.

In 2014, the Yellow River Water Resources Protection Institute published a report…finding that its average flow from 2001-2010 was 54% lower than the 1956-2000 average…human activity was the main cause…Greenpeace published a report on how coal mining is aggravating a worldwide water crisis. It pointed to a severe supply and demand imbalance on the Kuye and estimated that by 2020 the coal industry alone would require more water than the entire river’s supply.