Impoverished Yi people in Yantang village of Shixiangzi Yi ethnic township, SW China's Sichuan province had struggled with water shortage for decades. Due to geological location and years of drought, villagers had to walk two or three kilometers to get fresh water at water storage points as there wasn't tap water at home either. In 2014, the poverty rate of Yantang village was 18.5 percent as the water shortage was the main reason to affect the area's development. The Local government has invested more than 5 million yuan (about US$756,000) to build 23 water ponds and a 17-kilometer-long water pipe network. Villagers in Yantang can use tap water at their own homes. The whole village has been lifted out of poverty.
