China mulls diverting Tibet's water to thirsty northwest (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-08-01 16:36
BEIJING -- China is considering to spend 300 billion yuan in diverting water
from the upper reaches of Yangtze River at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the
upper reaches of the Yellow River at the thirsty northwestern areas.
Li Guoying, head of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission under the
Ministry of Water Resources, said on Tuesday at a press conference that the
western route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project will use a 300
kilometer-long relay of tunnels and channels to divert water from the Yalong,
Dadu and Jinsha Rivers that flows from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into southwest
China to the upper reaches of the Yellow River.
The final construction timetable of the western route has not been nailed
down, but the project is planned to be constructed in three phases. In its first
phase, the project will transfer 4 billion cubic meters of water annually to the
Yellow River. And after the third phase of the project is completed, the project
will divert 17 billion cubic meters of water a year.
"When the economic and social development of the northwest reaches a certain
level and the potential of water saving measures is exhausted, this project will
be launched," Li said.
He said the route is not especially long, but it's technologically
challenging.
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