Tibet in southwestern China will continue to invest heavily in drinking water projects this year in its vast rural areas, local water resources authorities said Saturday.

The region earmarked 320 million yuan (51 million U.S. dollars) for 2012, expecting to provide roughly 300,000 people access to safe drinking water, said Rinchen, an official with the water resources department of Tibet Autonomous Region.

Though Tibet is a place with rich water resources, due to poor economic and geological conditions, farmers and herders in the plateau's remote areas still have trouble obtaining clean and safe drinking water.

The region has been trying to fix this problem over the past few years. During the 11th Five-Year Plan from 2005 to 2010, its water projects, which included setting up water pipes and drilling wells, enabled 1.5 million people to have access to clean water.

Rinchen said that fewer epidemic diseases were reported in recent years, which is believed to be a result of those rural water safety projects.

Last year, Tibet invested 235 million yuan in such projects, providing safe drinking water for over 223,000 people.