Middle route of South-to-North Water Diversion Project benefits over 180m people in North China

The middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has in the past decade diverted 76.7 billion cubic meters of water from the Yangtze River basin to the country's drought-prone northern regions, according to a water resources official.

Wang Daoxi, vice-minister of water resources, made the remark on Thursday at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the mega project's operation. The news conference was organized by the State Council Information Office.

The 1,432-kilometer project takes water from the Danjiangkou Reservoir, which spans Hubei and Henan provinces, and benefits Henan and Hebei provinces, as well as Tianjin and Beijing municipalities, along its route.

After sustainable expansion of areas covered by the project, it now supplies water to 45 medium and large-sized cities, benefiting 185 million people, Wang said.

"The project's positive influence has progressively extended beyond medium and large cities to rural areas, leading to an increasing multitude of individuals reaping its benefits year after another," he said.

Wang also highlighted the significant role of the project in helping remediate ecological environment of rivers and lakes in north China.

Thanks to the project, roughly 11.8 billion cubic meters of water has been replenished into more than 50 rivers, he stated.

The Yongding River, which dried up in 1996, for example, witnessed continuous water flow along its 865-kilometer course in August 2021. Over the last three years, the mother river of Beijing has maintained a year-round flow along its entire length.