The looming water crisis is a result of a mismatch between the location of the country’s plants and its water reserves.

According to the report, 85% of China’s generating capacity is located in “water-stressed” regions, with roughly 60% of China’s power plants (most of them running on coal) located in northern China, where just 20% of the country’s fresh water resides.

The “big five” state-owned utilities that operate many of these power plants are financially exposed to the water constraint, particularly because the Chinese government has set a cap on the country’s growing water use.

“The era of water abundance in China is over, and competition for resource access between business, agriculture and urban centers is starting to bite,” said Maxime Serrano Bardisa, one of the report’s authors.

Bloomberg estimates it would cost China’s utilities $20 billion to retrofit the plants with more water-efficient technologies, a pricy solution. Retiring the plants and rebuilding in wetter areas, or abandoning coal altogether and opting for clean power such a solar panels and wind turbines that don’t require as much water, could be more attractive options.

With Bloomberg estimating that the utilities’ dependence and consumption of water will only increase in the next 15 years, these statistics could prove a very big problem for China.

“In a business-as-usual scenario, power sector withdrawals could reach 190bnm3 in 2030 and constitute more than 25% of the national overarching cap of 700bn m3 set by the government,” the report said.

“Given that some regions are already in water deficit today, the projected increase in power-related water withdrawals could quickly become unsustainable.”