8/10/2019 Chinas Water Diversion Project Starts to Flow to Beijing

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Chinas water diversion project

starts to flow to Beijing

A canal of the South-North

Water Diversion project in Henan province. Photograph: Zhao Peng/Xinhua Press/or!is

Jonathan Kaimanin Ping"ingshan-#ri"a$ %& Dece'!er &(%)

*)+!n sche'e 'a$ provi"e relief to the parche" north, !ut at hat cost to the "rought-ri""en

south an" its "isplace" far'ers

n #ri"a$ afternoon, hina 0uietl$ inaugurate" one of the !iggest engineering projects of all

ti'e: the South-North Water Diversion, a *)+!n, &,)((1' netor1 of canals an" tunnels,

"esigne" to "ivert )).+!n cu!ic 'etres of ater annuall$ fro' hina2s hu'i" south to its

parche", in"ustrialise" north.

At &.3&p', the project2s 4'i""le line5 officiall$ !egan carr$ing ater fro' the Danjiang1oureservoir in central hina2s Hu!ei province to 6eijing 7 the "istance fro' orsica to 8on"on.

9he project, officials sa$, ill save hina fro' a ater crisis that coul" set its "evelop'ent!ac1 $ears.

t has also "estro$e" Wang ;anhe2s life. Wang as !orn near the Danjiang1ou reservoir in

%

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!eca'e one of the'. 9he govern'ent gave hi' a ho'e in the He!a Ne ?igrant @illage !$ a"ust$ higha$ in rural Ping"ingshan, a coal-rich 'unicipalit$ in neigh!ouring Henan province

hose na'e translates to 4flat 'ountain5.

9hen ca'e the "rought. 9his su''er as Ping"ingshan2s "riest in 3 $ears 7 Wang2s corn crop

onl$ gre to 1nee-height, forcing hi' to a!an"on his harvest. 4Nothing is as goo" as !efore,5

he sai", chain-s'o1ing cigarettes in his concrete-floore" living roo'. His roof lea1sB he can2tspea1 the local "ialect. fficials pro'ise" hi' (.& acres of lan", !ut onl$ gave hi' (.%>. 4After

e arrive", e realise" that the lan" as all "r$,5 he sai". 4So it "oesn2t even 'atter hat the$

pro'ise" us.5

9he Henan Dail$ nespaper announce" the line2s inauguration in apith$ 'icro!log poston

#ri"a$. 46eing a peoples2 engineering project, in 1eeping ith a frugal an" prag'atic or1ing

st$le, cele!rator$ activities ill !e 1ept as si'ple as possi!le,5 it sai". 4No officials ill ta1e

part in the cere'onies.5

hina2s !oo'ing econo'$ over the past three "eca"es, couple" ith a long-hel" 'an"ate to4gro first, clean up later5, has !eencatacl$s'ic for the countr$2s once-!ountiful la1es, rivers

an" a0uifers. ?ore than half of hina2s >(,((( rivers have vanishe" over the past to "eca"es,

accor"ing to hina2s first national census of ater, pu!lishe" last $ear. A!out =(C of its

re'aining fresh ater is pollute". 4f e continue ith our !usiness-as-usual 'o"el, hina ill

!asicall$ run out of ater,5 sai" #eng Hu, a ater anal$st ith the Hong ong-!ase" research

grouphina Water Eis1. 4t on2t have enough ater to poer its econo'$.5

9he project has roots in an offhan" co''ent !$?ao Ze"ong ho, on an inspection tour in the

earl$ %(s, sai": 49he south has plent$ of ater, !ut the north is "r$. f e coul" !orro

so'e, that oul" !e goo".5 9heproject has three sections: a %,%>(1' eastern line, hich runsfro' the loer ;angtFe Eiver to 9ianjinB the 'i""le line, fro' Danjiang1ou to 6eijingB an" a

estern line, hich coul" so'e "a$ lin1 the hea"aters of the ;angtFe an" ;ello rivers

across the high-altitu"e Ginghai-9i!etan Plateau. 9he eastern line !egan "elivering ater to

coastal Shan"ong province last inter. 9he estern line re'ains largel$ conceptual, so gran" in

scale that it 'a$ ulti'atel$ prove i'possi!le to !uil".

While the project coul" provi"e so'e 'uch-nee"e" relief, it 4ill never solve north hina2s

ater pro!le'5, sai" ennifer 9urner, "irector of the hina Inviron'ent #oru' at the Wilson

enter in Washington D. She calle" the project a 46an"-Ai"5 rather than a long-ter'

solution. 49he challenge in the ater sector, rit large, is that it is so hoo1e" into suppl$-si"e

'anage'ent,5 she sai". 4t2s li1e the engineers in hina have a special tattoo that sa$s Jnothing

is too !ig2 7 the$2ll 'ove ater 'assive "istances rather than get "eep an" "irt$ into the 'ess

of pushing effective ater conservation.5

http://hb.sina.com.cn/news/2014-12-12/detail-icczmvun2027909.shtmhttp://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/04/28-000-rivers-disappeared-in-china-what-happened/275365/http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/04/28-000-rivers-disappeared-in-china-what-happened/275365/http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/04/28-000-rivers-disappeared-in-china-what-happened/275365/http://www.mwr.gov.cn/2013pcgb/merge1.pdfhttp://chinawaterrisk.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedonghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedonghttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2011/sep/09/china-south-north-water-diversion-project-in-pictureshttp://hb.sina.com.cn/news/2014-12-12/detail-icczmvun2027909.shtmhttp://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/04/28-000-rivers-disappeared-in-china-what-happened/275365/http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/04/28-000-rivers-disappeared-in-china-what-happened/275365/http://www.mwr.gov.cn/2013pcgb/merge1.pdfhttp://chinawaterrisk.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedonghttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2011/sep/09/china-south-north-water-diversion-project-in-pictures

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n #e!ruar$, Giu 6aoKing, vice-'inister of the ?inistr$ of Housing an" Lr!an-Eural

Develop'ent, calle" the project unsustaina!le. 4As the scale of the project gets !igger an" the

"istance gets longer, it is 'ore an" 'ore "ifficult to "ivert ater,5 he rote. 4Eec$cle" atercoul" replace "iverte" ater. ?ost hinese cities are capa!le of fin"ing 'ore ater if e

"evelop ater "esalination technolog$ an" collect 'ore rain ater.5

IKperts sa$ the south 'a$ no longer have enough ater to spare. 9he$ sa$ the project coul"

"eci'ate the Han Eiver, an i'portant tri!utar$ of the ;angtFe 7 a!out )(C of the river2s ater

ill eventuall$ !e "iverte" north, "espite acute ater shortages that alrea"$ plague the cities

along its !an1s. n &(%%, five 'onths of "rought in Hu!ei province left 3%>,((( people short of

"rin1ing ater. 9he Danjiang1ou reservoir "roppe" to four 'etres !elo 4"ea" ater5 level,

ren"ering it unusa!le. Speculation that the South-North Water Diversion project cause" this

$ear2s "rought gre so heate" that state 'e"ia issue" a "enial. 4Henan province is the recipient

of !enefits fro' the Mproject,5 ;ang 6iantong, a spo1es'an for Henan2s floo" control an"

"rought relief "epart'ent, tol" the People2s Dail$ in late August. 4Not onl$ has it not ha" a

negative effect, the Mproject has also !een eKtre'el$ helpful.5

hristine 6o$le, foun"er of 6lue HoriFon nsightan" an eKpert on hina2s ater issues, sai"

the issue !oils "on to ho one "efines a "rought. n a""ition to crippling eather "roughts 7

perio"s of little rainfall 7 hina is also suffering fro' econo'ic "roughts, hich occur hen

the "e'an" for ater outstrips suppl$. 4;ou can2t sa$ the South-North Water Diversion is

http://www.chinafile.com/South-North-Water-Transfer-Not-Sustainable-Chinese-Official-Sayshttp://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1580527/south-north-water-diversion-project-not-cause-hubei-and-henan-droughtshttp://bluehorizoninsight.com/http://www.chinafile.com/South-North-Water-Transfer-Not-Sustainable-Chinese-Official-Sayshttp://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1580527/south-north-water-diversion-project-not-cause-hubei-and-henan-droughtshttp://bluehorizoninsight.com/

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causing a eather "rought,5 she sai". 46ut $ou can sa$ it2s intensif$ing an econo'ic "rought.5?an$ hinese far'ers are alrea"$ econo'icall$ s0ueeFe", an" increasingl$ erratic eather

patterns, perhaps relate" to cli'ate change 7 freeFing inters, !listering su''ers, floo"s an"

"roughts 7 are no pushing the' into a state of e'ergenc$.

9he South-North Water Diversion project !egan sen"ing e'ergenc$ ater supplies to

Ping"ingshan in 'i"-August an", accor"ing to the official nesire Xinhua, the "iversion asa success. 9he 'i""le line "elivere" 'ore than >(' cu!ic 'etres of ater to the cit$2s

6aiguishan reservoir over a 'onth an" a half, it sai", 4effectivel$ relieving the scarce ater

suppl$ of Ping"ingshan cit$2s one 'illion-plus resi"ents5.

While that ater has floe" into the taps of Ping"ingshan2s ur!anites an" the cooling s$ste's

of its coal-fire" poer plants, far'ers on the cit$ outs1irts have !een left to fen" for

the'selves. hang Xiang"ang, )(, lives ith his fa'il$ of siK in ?alou @illage, population

%,(((, a "ense cluster of cin"er!loc1 houses onl$ a fe hun"re" 'etres fro' the project2s 'ain

channel. #ro' his s'all patch of ra"ish an" ca!!age, high concrete e'!an1'ents stretch to the

horiFon an" an arch-li1e sluice rises li1e a 'irage. 49he channel runs through our ton, !utthere2s no a$ to get the ater, no gap in the all,5 he sai". @illagers rel$ on groun"ater for

!athing an" coo1ing. n previous $ears, the$ coul" "ig &( 'etres to reach the a0uifer. 9his $ear,

even +(-'etre ells are running "r$.

hang sai" the lac1 of ater has thron his life into fluK. 8i1e Wang, the "isplace" far'er, he

has given up on this $ear2s corn harvest. His fa'il$ has !een su!sisting on a co'pensation

pac1age that project officials gave hi' four $ears ago, hen the$ re0uisitione" 'uch of his

far'lan". Another "r$ su''er, he sa$s, oul" leave hi' "estitute. He has consi"ere" ta1ing a

construction jo! in the cit$. 49here2s no 'ore ater here,5 he sai". 42ll "o hat it ta1es to

survive.5

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