South-north water project benefits 195m

More than 90 billion cubic meters of water — enough to fill nearly 6,300 West Lakes in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province — have been channeled from water-rich southern China to the arid north through the country's giant South-to-North Water Diversion Project, official data released on Monday showed, underscoring the project's growing role as a strategic buffer against chronic water scarcity.

Of the total, the middle route has supplied 80 billion cu m, while the eastern route has delivered nearly 10 billion cu m, according to the Ministry of Water Resources and the China South-to-North Water Diversion Corporation.

Since the project began full operations in 2014, it has helped optimize the allocation of water resources between northern and southern China and secure water supplies for domestic, ecological and industrial use along the routes, supporting stable regional development, the China South-to-North Water Diversion Corporation said in a media release on Monday.

The project has also established interconnected water channels across regions, enabling coordinated allocation and joint supply from multiple water sources, the release said.

Since water diversion began, the project has benefited 48 large and medium-sized cities and 195 million people along the routes, significantly improving drinking water quality in northern China.

In Hebei province's Heilonggang area, nearly 9 million residents have completely bid farewell to high-fluoride and bitter saline water, it said.

The project currently operates along two primary routes. The middle route draws water from the Danjiangkou Reservoir in Hubei province and runs through Henan and Hebei provinces to supply Beijing and Tianjin. It began delivering water on Dec 12,2014, marking the project's transition to full-scale, multi-route operations.

The eastern route transfers water from Jiangsu province to areas including Tianjin and Shandong province. It began operating in November 2013.

Water supply security has also improved markedly.

On the eastern route, water quality has remained at Grade III or above, while the water supply guarantee rate for cities in receiving areas has risen from below 80 percent to 97 percent, benefiting more than 85 million people.

On the middle route, water quality has remained at Grade II or above, covering 27 large and medium-sized cities and nearly 118 million people, the release said.

China has a five-tier surface water quality system, with Grade I being the highest. Water rated Grade III is suitable for the survival of most aquatic organisms.

The project has also played a crucial role in flood prevention, drought relief and disaster mitigation, the release said.

In 2014, it delivered 51.3 million cu m of emergency water to Pingdingshan, Henan province, helping ease a severe drought that affected the city's 1 million residents. In 2024, it again supplied 19.96 million cu m during continued dry weather.

Supporting projects for the two routes are also moving forward, according to the release.

Once completed, the Guanlu Reservoir in Shandong province will work in tandem with the Jihongtan Reservoir to enable complementary scheduling of water from the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, improving water supply security for Qingdao in Shandong, the release said.

Backed by more than 9 billion yuan ($1.33 billion) in investment and designed to hold 211 million cu m of water, the Guanlu Reservoir is nearing completion, just over two years after full-scale construction began in 2023.

The reservoir will quadruple Qingdao's water storage and regulation capacity, enabling the city to better channel supplies from both the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, Ji Wenfeng, deputy director of Qingdao's water resources bureau, told China Central Television.

The project will significantly strengthen water security for Qingdao and the wider Jiaodong Peninsula, which also includes the cities of Yantai and Weihai, Ji said.