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The South–North Water Transfer Project, also translated as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, is a multi-decade infrastructure mega-project in China that aims to channel 44.8 cubic kilometers (44.8 billion cubic meters) of fresh water each year from the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
in southern China to the more arid and industrialized north through three canal systems: * The Eastern Route through the course of the Grand Canal; * The Central Route from the upper reaches of the Han River (a tributary of the Yangtze) via the Grand Aqueduct to
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
and
Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
; * The Western Route, which goes from three tributaries of the Yangtze near Bayankala Mountain to the provinces of
Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...
,
Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
,
Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
,
Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
,
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
, and Ningxia. Construction began in 2003, and the first phases of the Eastern and Central routes became operational in late 2014. The project is the largest water transfer scheme in the world, with an estimated investment exceeding 500 billion yuan (over $70 billion) to date. The South–North Water Transfer Project is intended to alleviate chronic water shortages in northern China, support economic development, and curb over-extraction of groundwater. However, it faces significant engineering, environmental, and social challenges.


History

The initial basis for this project was the lack of water in the Chinese north, which has a lot of agricultural land.
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
discussed the idea for a mass engineering project as an answer to China's water problems as early as 1952. He reportedly said, "there's plenty of water in the south, not much water in the north. If at all possible, borrowing some water would be good". Rapid industrial and agricultural growth since 1978 has resulted in a large increase of water in the north, raising water demand in comparison to supply. Engineer Wang Mengshu initially proposed transferring water from the Songhua River in Jilin, around 900 km from Beijing. Before the construction, it was predicted that the development of the Bohai Economic Rim was significantly constrained by lack of water resources. The decision to start the project was also based on the strategic need to safeguard Beijing's water supply, which could theoretically also be met at similar cost through desalinization. In addition, water has been strategically diverted to Beijing from the surrounding regions in Hebei, which themselves lack water resources. The project's real concept began in 2002, with China's Ministry of Water Resources, which developed Blueprints and established the Office of the Construction Committee for the South North Water Transfer Project, to oversee building. Construction of the project began in 2003. The East and Middle routes took nine and ten years to build, respectively. The East route began operating in 2013, and the West route saw waterflow by 2014. In 2024, it was reported that 76.7 km³ of water had been transported in the ten years since operation began. Environmental impacts of the project have been monitored since its initiation, and it was found in 2020 that it greatly increased the water quality as well as the amount of groundwater in the north.


East route

The Eastern Route Project (ERP), or Jiangdu Hydro Project, consists of an upgrade to the Grand Canal and will be used to divert a fraction of the total flow of the Yangtze River to northern China. According to local hydrologists, the entire flow of the Yangtze at the point of its discharge into the
East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...
is, on average, 956 km3 per year; the annual flow does not fall below approximately 600 km3 per year, even in the driest years.Eastern Route Project (ERP)
, on the official project site; includes the map. (As one can see from the context, "956 million m³" on that page is apparently a typo for "956 billion m³").
As the project progresses, the amount of water to be diverted to the north will increase from 8.9 km3/year to 10.6 km3/year to 14.8 km3/year. Water from the Yangtze River will be drawn into the canal in Jiangdu, where a giant 400 m3/s (12.6 km3/year if operated continuously)
pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses, are public utility buildings containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are critical in a variety of infrastructure systems, such as water supply, Land reclamation, ...
was built in the 1980s. The water will then be pumped by stations along the Grand Canal and through a tunnel under the
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
and down an aqueduct to reservoirs near Tianjin. Construction on the Eastern route officially began on 27 December 2002, and water was expected to reach Tianjin by 2013. However, in addition to construction delays,
water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of Body of water, water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and ...
has affected the viability of the route. Initially, the route was expected to provide water for the provinces of
Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
,
Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...
, and
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
, with trial operations to begin in mid-2013. Water started arriving in Shandong in 2014, and it is expected one cubic kilometer of water will have been transferred in 2018. As of October 2017, water had reached Tianjin. Tianjin is expected to receive 1 km3/year. The Eastern route is not expected to supply Beijing, which is to be supplied by the central route. The completed line will be slightly over 1,152 km (716 miles) long, equipped with 23 pumping stations with a power capacity of 454 megawatts. An important element of the Eastern Route will be a tunnel crossing under the Yellow River, on the border of Dongping and Dong'e counties of Shandong Province. The crossing will consist of two 9.3 m diameter horizontal tunnels, positioned 70 m under the bed of the Yellow River.South-to-North Water Diversion Project, China
, Water-Technology.net, September 2008. Also archived her

/ref> Due to the topography of the Yangtze Plain and the
North China Plain The North China Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bordered to the north by th ...
, pumping stations will be needed to raise water from the Yangtze to the Yellow River crossing; farther north, the water will be flowing downhill in an aqueduct.


Central route

The central route, known colloquially as the Grand Aqueduct, runs from Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Han River, a tributary of the Yangtze, to Beijing. This project involved raising the height of the Danjiangkou Dam by increasing the dam's crest elevation from 162 m to 176.6 m above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
. This addition to the dam's height allows the water level in the reservoir to rise from 157 m to 170 m above sea level and thus permits the flow into the water diversion canal to begin downhill, pulled by gravity into the lower elevation of the canals. The central route crosses the
North China Plain The North China Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bordered to the north by th ...
. The canal was constructed to create a continuous downhill flow all the way from the Danjiangkou Reservoir to Beijing without the need for pumping stations. The greatest engineering challenge of the route was building two tunnels under the Yellow River to carry the canal's flow. Construction on the central route began in 2004. In 2008, the 307 km-long northern stretch of the central route was completed at a cost of $2 billion. Water in that stretch of the canal does not come from the Han River but from reservoirs in Hebei Province, south of Beijing. Farmers and industries in Hebei had to cut back on water consumption to allow for water to be transferred to Beijing. On mapping services, one can see the canal's intake at the Danjiangkou Reservoir (); its crossing of the Baihe River north of Nanyang, Henan (); the Shahe River in Lushan County (); the Ying River in Yuzhou (); and the Yellow River northeast of
Zhengzhou Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, China. Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine National central city, national central cities in China, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. Th ...
(); as well as its entrance into the southwestern suburbs of Beijing at the Juma River in Zhuozhou, Hebei (). The whole project was expected to be completed around 2010. Final completion was on 12 December 2014, to allow for more environmental protection along the route. One problem was the impact of the project on the Han River below the Danjiangkou Dam, from which approximately one-third of the route's total water is diverted. To mitigate this, another canal is being built to divert water from the Three Gorges Reservoir to the Danjiangkou Reservoir. Construction of this project, named the Yinjiangbuhan tunnel, began in July 2022. It is set to take an estimated ten years to complete. Another major challenge was the resettlement of around 330,000 people who lived near Danjiangkou Reservoir at its former lower elevation and along the route of the project. On 18 October 2009, Chinese officials began to relocate residents from the areas of Hubei and Henan provinces that would be affected by the project.The Inquirer, Philadelphia
China to resettle 330,000 people
, 19 October 2010
The completed route of the Grand Aqueduct is about 1,264 km long and initially provided 9.5 km3 of water annually. By 2030, the project is slated to increase this transfer to 12–13 km3 per year. Although the transfer will be lower in dry years, it is projected that it will be able to provide a flow of at least 6.2 km3/year at all times with 95% confidence.
, at the project's official site
Industries are prohibited from locating on the reservoir's watershed to keep its water drinkable.Al Jazeera English
China plans for future supply of clean water
, 11 August 08


West route

There are long-standing plans to divert about 200 cubic kilometers of water per year from the upstream sections of six rivers in southwestern China, including the Mekong (Lancang River), the Yarlung Zangbo (called Brahmaputra further downstream), and the Salween (Nu River), to the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and ultimately to the dry areas of northern China through a system of reservoirs, tunnels, and natural rivers.


Financing

In 2008, construction costs for the eastern and central routes was estimated to be 254.6 billion yuan ($37.44 billion). The government had budgeted only 53.87 billion yuan ($7.9 billion), less than a quarter of the total cost, at that time. This included 26 billion from the central government and special accounts, 8 billion from local governments, and almost 20 billion in loans. As of 2008, around 30 billion yuan had been spent on the construction of the eastern (5.66 billion yuan) and central routes (24.82 billion yuan). Costs of the projects have increased significantly. By 2014, more than 208.2 billion RMB (34 billion USD) had been spent, with construction on the western route not yet started. This was a significant amount, costing 3% of all government investment while it was being built. By 2024, 500 billion RMB had been spent on the project.


Impacts and criticism

Notwithstanding these developments, the SNWTP has drawn much criticism for its negative environmental effects. The project required resettling at least 330,000 people in central China. Critics have warned the water diversion will cause environmental damage, and some villagers said officials had forced them to sign agreements to relocate. In 2013, Radio Free Asia reported that fish farmers on Dongping Lake, on the project's eastern route, in Shandong, claimed that the polluted Yangtze River water entering the lake was killing their fish. Subsequent scientific research showed that the water diversion improved the water environment of Dongping Lake. Although the project recharged northern rivers, lakes, and aquifers, reversing groundwater depletion, concerns remain over reduced downstream flows in source regions, which have been partially addressed by supplementary projects. Additionally, scientists have expressed concern that the project will increase water losses from open-canal evaporation, implying lower water transfer efficiency and possibly reducing both ecological and financial advantages. The exact amount of evaporation loss is not known, but it may be improved in the future as more water is transferred and the flow rate increases. In terms of climate-change scenarios that can aggravate water shortage, these evaporation losses also raise questions over the project's long-term sustainability and environmental feasibility. Engineer Wang Mengshu has noted that a tunnel structure would have reduced the project's cost, as the ground-level canal required more excavation and land acquisition as well as the construction of 1,300 bridges.


See also

* Water resources of China * Meng Xuenong, the project's deputy director (2003–2007) * Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal, in Xinjiang province * Central Yunnan Water Diversion Project, similar project under construction in southern China


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:South-North Water Transfer Project Aqueducts in China Proposed infrastructure in China Proposed canals Interbasin transfer Environmental issues in China Irrigation in China Canals in China Macro-engineering Megaprojects