South–North Water Transfer Project

The initial basis for this project was the lack of water in the Chinese north, which has a lot of agricultural land. 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 possible, borrowing some water would be good". Rapid industrial and agricultural growth since 1978 has resulted in a large increase of water usage in the north, raising water demand in comparison to supply. 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. 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 is, on average, 956 km3 per year; the annual flow does not fall below approximately 600 km3 per year, even in the driest years. 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. 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. 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. ==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. 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. , close to entering 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 (); 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 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. Industries are prohibited from locating on the reservoir's watershed to keep its water drinkable. ==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. 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. ==See also==