South–North Water Transfer Project

Common card · No. 331914

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 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 and Tianjin; The Western Route, which goes from three tributaries of the Yangtze near Bayankala Mountain to the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner 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...

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