The brutality of the drought was the last straw on the already dilapidated irrigation infrastructure of Wenshan. The last drop evaporated months ago, the aged reservoir and water cellars were cracking, some reduced to rumble. This prompted locals to rethink the value of "small water facilities" – cellars, pools, pumping stations and ditches, which many experts believe are the best solution set for water-deprived mountainous areas. They have a limited presence in Wenshan.

"The drought in Yunnan is different from that in the north. The water sources are either far away or deep below the earth. To tap into them we need large reservoirs and supporting facilities that are impossible to construct without a heavy investment by the state," Wu Shenghua explained. Minor water facilities are less costly, and can better serve sparsely-populated rural areas. According to Wu, there are some 20,000 water cellars in mountainous communities across the prefecture, each feeding nearly 10,000 people with capacities of 30 tons. "Don't take this figure for granted, for it is really hard to bring outside waters to these mountain dwellers. We regret we didn't have money to build more. If every rural household had two or three mini cellars, we would not have suffered so much in this drought," said Wu.