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General Pattern of "South-North Water Diversion " Project Fixed
Latest news from the Ministry of Water Resources show that the general pattern of the "south-north water diversion" project, which attracts world attention, has been formally defined in three lines--east, central and west. Currently, the project implementation plan for the east and central lines has been basically finalized.
The plan for the east line is: water will be drawn from the Jiangdu Pumping Station in Yangzhou, north of the downstream of the Yangtze River, to Tianjin and Hebei Province via 13-pumping steps and the Yellow River tunnels. The Eastern line project is designed mainly to solve the problem of water shortage in the eastern region of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain and use the main course of the Grand Canal and the surrounding parallel river courses as the water diversion channels. The main line is 1,150 kilometers in length.
Experts said that the planned water diversion scale of the eastern line project is 800-1000 cubic meters per second and the annual volume is about 15 billion cubic meters, respectively accounting for 3 percent and 1.5 percent of the average annual discharge of the Yangtze River. It will not affect the water level in the downstream of the Yangtze River.
Experts with the Ministry of Water Resources suggested that the construction of the central line project should be carried out in step with the eastern line project. The central line project transfers water from Danjiangkou Reservoir, Hubei Province to Beijing. The full length is 1240 kilometers. The plan for eastern and central line projects will be submitted to the government for approval in a few days and will be included into the Tenth Five-Year Plan. Sources say that the Yangtze River water will flow into Beijing by 2010.
Project to Be Launched
China is preparing to launch a project to divert water from south China to north China, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.
The project comprises the east route, the central route and western route, an official of the ministry said.
The eastern route will involve diversion of water from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest river, to Shangdong Province, Tianjian municipality and the east part of Hebei Province.
The central route is to divert water from the Hanjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, to Beijing and Tianjin, as well as cities along the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway in Hebei and Henan provinces.
The western route is to divert water from the Dadu River, the Yalong River and the Tongtian River, to the upper reaches of the Yellow River to increase water supply in the Ninxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shaanxi Province.
By PD Online staff member Du Minghua
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