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December 13, 2014

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New milestone for water project

Source: Agencies | December 13, 2014, Saturday | Print Edition

CHINA yesterday opened a key section of a massive and ambitious plan to transport water from wetter central and southern parts of the country to its arid north, including the capital Beijing.

The 500 billion yuan (US$80.1 billion) undertaking — dreamed up by former Chairman Mao Zedong in the 1950s — is designed to supply China’s parched and pollution-ridden north, which is home to more than 300 million people and countless water-intensive businesses.

The latest section to open runs 1,432 kilometers from Danjiangkou Reservoir in central China’s Hubei Province, Xinhua news agency reported.

It can supply an average of 9.5 billion cubic meters of water a year to about 100 million people in places like Beijing, Tianjin and nearby provinces of Henan and Hebei, the report said.

Some provinces in northern China have less freshwater per person than the desert countries of the Middle East.

Of the country’s total, water-intensive industries such as clothing and electronics manufacturing consume a quarter — a share the think tank 2030 Water Resources Group expects to grow to a third by 2030.

The first stage of China’s south-to-north transfer brought water to the industry-heavy northeast, but it was barely usable when it reached Tianjin because it picked up pollutants and sediment while flowing north through polluted soil.

That has raised concerns about the latest phase — a decade in the making — bringing water via a less polluted route. Some experts have also voiced concern that the project’s extensive tapping of water from the Yangtze River and its tributaries may damage one of China’s most important waterways.

The project started with the construction of the eastern route in 2002 and the middle route in 2003, while the western route is in its pre-construction stage.

The middle route, which opened yesterday, has grabbed the most attention due to its role in feeding water to the capital.

Once completed, the entire project, which has created about 600,000 jobs, is expected to divert up to 44.8 billion cubic meters of water a year to more than 10 provinces and cities.

TIMELINE

October 1952 — the idea of diverting water from the resource-abundant south to the north is envisioned by Chairman Mao Zedong.

June 5, 2000 — after decades of research and discussion, the south-to-north water diversion project is set to include three routes — eastern, middle and western — to take water from the Yangtze.

December 23, 2002 — the project is officially approved by the State Council, China’s Cabinet.

December 27, 2002 — construction of the eastern route of the world’s largest water diversion project begins in Shandong and Jiangsu.

December 30, 2003 — construction of the first phase of the middle route begins.

September 26, 2005 — a project begins to heighten the dams of the Danjiangkou Reservoir so as to expand the storage capacity of the water source of the middle route.

February 26, 2009 — major work on the middle route involving seven provinces gets under way.

March 31, 2010 — all 54 dams of Danjiangkou Reservoir are raised to their highest level, from 14.6 meters to 176.6m, to shore up to 29 billion cubic meters of water from rivers including the Hanjiang, a major tributary of the Yangtze.

September 2012 — relocation of residents near the Danjiangkou Reservoir area is completed.

December 25, 2013 — main work on the middle route is completed.

Nation


 

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