Water transfer - Case study: China south-north water transfer project

3.7 River management

5.1 World population

Water transfer - Case study: China south-north water transfer project

  1. Overview

    1. This is a 50 year project to transfer water from the south of China to the north
    2. The project uses 3 canal systems to divert water from the Yangtze river in the south to the more arid & industrial north
    3. It ultimately aims to transfer 44.8 billion m3 of water per year
    4. It had an initial budget of $62 billion but costs have now risen to $80 billion

  2. Rationale

    1. The north contains 40% of the population but only 4% of the country’s water
    2. The north gets a mean annual precipitation of less than 100 mm, facing droughts, whereas the south gets over 1000 mm, causing floods
    3. Water shortages cost $39 billion a year in lost crops and reduced industrial output
    4. Increasing food and water shortages threatens falling living standards, industrial decline and growing poverty
    5. The north has rich mineral & land resources with growing industrial cities, and the shortage of water is becoming a restrictive factor

  3. Issues

    1. Over 350 thousand people have been displaced
    2. This could cause the water to be polluted: for example, fishers on the Yangtze river have complained that pollution was killing the fish
    3. Water conservation and agricultural improvements may have been better
    4. It is intensifying, if not causing an economic drought