Northern cities to get diverted water

Water will be supplied to drought-prone cities in North China in the third quarter of next year via the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, authorities said.

The first phase of the project's eastern route is expected to be completed by the end of March 2013, and the water quality of all monitored cross sections along the route will meet mandatory standards by the end of June 2013, according to the State Council's Office of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Commission.

The project, the world's largest water diversion, is designed to take water from the Yangtze River in the south via eastern, middle, and western routes to satisfy the water demand in the arid northern region of China.