19 Critical thinking of South-to-North Water Diversion project

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project is a strategic project of the People's Republic of China and is divided into three routes: East, Central, and West. The starting point of the Eastern Route Project is located at the Jiangdu Water Control Project in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province; the middle line project is located at the Danjiangkou Reservoir in the upper and middle Hanjiang River. The water supply areas are Henan, Hebei, and Beijing. Four provinces (cities) in Tianjin. The idea of the project plan began in 1952 when Chairman Mao visited the Yellow River. Since then, after analyzing and comparing more than 50 programs, the water transfer program has obtained a large number of valuable results. The South-to-North Water Diversion Project planning area involves a population of 438 million people and a water transfer scale of 44.8 billion cubic meters. The total length of the east, middle and west lines of the project planning are 4350 kilometers. The total length of the main line of the first phase of the East and Middle Lines is 2899 kilometers, and about 2700 kilometers of auxiliary support canals along the first line of the six provinces and cities along the line. 

This project now provides water for the million people living in the north of China. However, it also has uncounted negative impacts on both the natural environment and society. As for the environment, changing the natural water system could lead to unexpected damage. For instance, lack of water flow in the downstream could have impacts on the ecosystem and habitat. In addition, following the construction of this project, many human habitats need to move and reset. There will be another huge cost.