South–North Water Transfer Project

The South–North Water Transfer Project, also translated as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project^[1] is a multidecade infrastructure mega-project in China that ultimately aims to channel 44.8 cubic kilometers (44.8 billion cubic meters) of fresh water each year^[2] from the Yangtze River in southern China to the more arid and industrialized north through three canal systems:^[3]

• The Eastern Route through the course of the Grand Canal;
• The Central Route from the upper reaches of Han River (a tributary of Yangtze River) via the Grand Aqueduct to Beijing and Tianjin;
• The Western Route which goes from three tributaries of Yangtze River near the Bayankala Mountain to provinces like Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia.^[4]

South–North Water Transfer Project
Project logo
Traditional Chinese	南水北調工程
Simplified Chinese	南水北调工程
Literal meaning	Southern Water Northern Diversion Project
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Nánshuǐ Běidiào Gōngchéng Wade–Giles Nan-shui P'ei-tiao Kung-ch'eng

Mao Zedong 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 it's possible; borrowing some water would be good."^[5][6][7] Construction began in 2003.^[8]

By 2014, more than $79 billion had been spent, making it one of the most ambitious and expensive engineering projects in human history.^{[9][better source needed]}

East route

 

German-language map showing the three routes

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 Chinese hydrologists, the entire flow of the Yangtze at the point of its discharge into the East China Sea is, on average, 956 km³ per year; the annual flow does not fall below around 600 km³ per year even in driest years.^[10] 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.^[10]

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 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 and down an aqueduct to reservoirs near Tianjin. Construction on the Eastern route began officially on December 27, 2002, and water was expected to reach Tianjin by 2013. However, in addition to construction delays, water pollution has affected the viability of the route. Initially the route was expected to provide water for the provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu and Hebei, with trial operations to begin in mid-2013. Water started arriving in Shandong in 2014, and it is expected 1 cubic kilometer of water will have been transferred in 2018.^[11]

As of October 2017, water has reached Tianjin. Tianjin is expected to receive 1 km³/year.^[12] The Eastern route is not expected to supply Beijing which is to be supplied by the central route.^[13]

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.^[14]

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 riverbed of the Yellow River.^[14][10]

Due to the topography of the Yangtze Plain and the North China Plain, 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.^[10]

Central route

The central route, known colloquially as the Grand Aquaduct, runs from Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Han river, a tributary of the Yangtze River, 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. This addition to the dam's height allowed the water level in the reservoir to rise from 157 m to 170 m above sea level. This allows the flow into the water diversion canal to begin downhill, pulled by gravity into the lower elevation of the canals.^[15]

The central route crosses the North China Plain. 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.^[15] The greatest engineering challenge of the route was building 2 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.^[16]

On mapping services, one can see the canal's intake at the Danjiangkou Reservoir (32°40′26″N 111°42′32″E / 32.67389°N 111.70889°E / 32.67389; 111.70889); its crossing of the Baihe River north of Nanyang, Henan (33°6′41″N 112°37′30″E / 33.11139°N 112.62500°E / 33.11139; 112.62500), the Shahe River in Lushan County (33°42′49″N 112°56′40″E / 33.71361°N 112.94444°E / 33.71361; 112.94444), the Ying River in Yuzhou (34°11′05″N 113°26′18″E / 34.18472°N 113.43833°E / 34.18472; 113.43833), and the Yellow River northeast of Zhengzhou (34°52′55″N 113°13′14″E / 34.88194°N 113.22056°E / 34.88194; 113.22056); and its entrance into the southwestern suburbs of Beijing at the Juma River in Zhuozhou, Hebei (39°30′26.3″N 115°47′30.2″E / 39.507306°N 115.791722°E / 39.507306; 115.791722).

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,^[5] from which approximately one-third of the route's total water is diverted. One long-term solution being considered is to build another canal to divert water from the reservoir at the Three Gorges Dam to Danjiangkou Reservoir.^[17]

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 the Hubei and Henan provinces that would be affected by the project.^[18] 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 to 13 km³ per year.^[14] 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.^[15]

Industries are prohibited from locating on the reservoir's watershed to keep its water drinkable.^[19]

 

South–North Water Transfer Project Central route starting point taocha in Xichuan County, Nanyang, Henan

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.^[20] The project was considered too immense and costly to be undertaken at the time. The respective rivers are transboundary and diversion could affect India and Bangladesh in South Asia, and Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in Southeast Asia.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[14]

Project controversy

The project required resettling at least 330,000 people in central China.^[21] Critics have warned the water diversion will cause environmental damage and some villagers said officials had forced them to sign agreements to relocate.^[21]

In the summer of 2013, complaints arrived from the fish farmers on the Dongping Lake, on the project's Eastern Route, in Shandong, reporting that the polluted Yangtze River water entering the lake was killing their fish.^[22]

Scientists have been concerned that the project will increase water evaporation losses. 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.^[23]

See also

• Water resources of China
• Meng Xuenong, the project's deputy director 2003-07
• Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal, in Xinjiang province
• NAWAPA Similar (unbuilt) project in North America
• Siberian River Reversal Similar (unbuilt) project in the Former Soviet Union
• State Water Project Similar built project in California

References

1. This is the English translation preferred by the official web site, http://www.nsbd.gov.cn/zx/english/ 2013-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
2. "{title}" 南水北调工程. Xinhua Net (in Chinese). 2002-12-27. from the original on 2014-03-07. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
3. Wang, Yue (2014-02-20). "Chinese Minister Speaks Out Against South-North Water Diversion Project". Forbes Asia. from the original on 2014-03-09. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
4. Jaffe, Aaron; Keith Schneider (1 March 2011). "A Dry and Anxious North Awaits China's Giant, Unproven Water Transport Scheme". Circle of Blue. from the original on 2014-03-07. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
5. Wong, Edward (2011-06-01), "Plan for China's Water Crisis Spurs Concern", The New York Times, from the original on 2015-09-29, retrieved 2017-02-23
6. The quote is given as “南方水多，北方水少，如有可能，借一点也是可以的” in 作家作品：毛泽东与南水北调 2013-01-20 at the Wayback Machine (Mao Zedong and the South-to-North Water Diversion Project), by Jin HUaichun (靳怀堾), at the project's official web site.
7. Zhang Hongzhou, Genevieve Donnellon-May (August 12, 2021). "To Build or Not to Build: Western Route of China's South-North Water Diversion Project". China Environment Forum New Security Beat. Wilson Center. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
8. "South-to-North Water Diversion Project - Water Technology".
9. Chang, Gordon G. (8 January 2014). . World Affairs. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
10. Eastern Route Project (ERP) 2015-06-28 at the Wayback Machine, 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").
11. 段亚英 (2018-03-29). "Diversion project's eastern route transfers 2.5 bln cubic meters of water". China.org.cn. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
12. "Desalination: Costly drops". The Economist. 9 February 2013. from the original on 2013-02-11. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
13. Barnett, Jon; Rogers, Sarah; Webber, Michael; Finlayson, Brian; Wang, Mark (November 2015). "Sustainability: Transfer project cannot meet China's water needs". Nature. 527 (7578): 295–297. Bibcode:2015Natur.527..295B. doi:10.1038/527295a. PMID 26581275. S2CID 4384163.
14. South-to-North Water Diversion Project, China 2007-07-12 at the Wayback Machine, Water-Technology.net, September 2008. Also archived here [1]
15. Middle Route Project (MRP) 2013-10-30 at the Wayback Machine, at the project's official site
16. China's water-diversion scheme: A shortage of capital flows 2008-10-13 at the Wayback Machine, The Economist, October 11, 2008, p. 61
17. "World's Largest River Diversion Project Now Pipes Water to Beijing". Bloomberg News. 15 December 2014. from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
18. The Inquirer, Philadelphia: China to resettle 330,000 people 2009-10-21 at the Wayback Machine, 19 October 2010
19. Al Jazeera English: China plans for future supply of clean water 2017-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, 11 August 08
20. Craig Simmons. "Solving the Entire Chinese Water Crisis 2010-10-19 at the Wayback Machine", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via The Progress Report. Retrieved on 2008-06-29.
21. . 2009-10-21. Archived from the original on 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
22. Chinese Water Diversion Project Kills Fish on Test Run 2014-07-05 at the Wayback Machine, 2013-07-08
23. Yujun Ma, Xiao-Yan Li, Maxwell Wilson and Xiuchen Wu. "Water loss by evaporation from China's South-North Water Transfer Project".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

• Official Website: 中国南水北调 (in Chinese) / South-to-North Water Diversion (in English)
• RitchieWiki: South-North Water Transfer Project
• CNN: Thirsty China to divert the mighty Yangtze, 15 November 2001
• Water industry article
• New York Times: Beneath Booming Cities, China’s Future Is Drying Up, 28 September 2007
• New York Times: Map of South-North Project

30°02′30″N 90°36′00″E / 30.0417°N 90.6000°E / 30.0417; 90.6000