South–North Water Transfer Project
The South–North Water Transfer Project, also translated as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project 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 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 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.
| South–North Water Transfer Project | |||||||||
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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 | ||||||||
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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." Construction began in 2003.
By 2014, more than $79 billion had been spent, making it one of the most ambitious and expensive engineering projects in human history.