BEIJING, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese lawmaker said here Saturday China still faces a severe water environment situation as the trend of deterioration of water environment "hasn't been checked effectively".

"Total discharge of waste water reached 52.4 billion tons in 2005, a rise of 26 percent over 2000," Sheng Huaren, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in his report to a meeting of the NPC Standing Committee on inspection of compliance with environmental protection law.

He said water pollution treatment tasks in major drainage areas during the Tenth Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005) are not fully fulfilled. In Haihe River, Liaohe River and Huaihe River valleys, only 70 percent of the tasks are fulfilled.

He said water at nearly one third of monitoring points across the country remains seriously polluted and has lost ecological functions. Enditem