WENCHUAN, Sichuan: For thousands of years, the Qiang people in Luobo village more than 2,000 m above the sea level have had to collect or haul water for daily use.

"Getting enough water for drinking and other basic needs was always a top concern for us," Ma Luquan, 56, a farmer who grows corn in northern Wenchuan county, said yesterday.

Last year, Ma and about 1,000 of his fellow villagers from the Qiang minority ethnic group had to leave the area after the deadly earthquake struck Sichuan province on May 12 and devastated Luobo.