CHENGDU - Severe droughts have left about 226,000 people with drinking water shortages in a county in Nanchong City in Southwest China's Sichuan province, local authorities said Wednesday.

Nanchong City has seen a sharp drop in rainfall this year, with 19 townships experiencing severe drought in worst-hit Nanbu County in Nanchong, said the county government.

More than 200,000 livestock are also facing drinking water shortages in the drought-plagued region.

The droughts have affected more than 36,860 hectares of farmland, with about one-tenth confirmed to have no harvest this year.

Local governments have sent disaster-relief supplies and laid pipelines to send water to the drought-hit regions.