The first phase of the central route of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project has transferred 60 billion cubic meters of water (including 9.51 billioncubic meters of water for ecological compensation) to North China by November 13, 2023, directly benefiting over 108 million people, said a source from the Department of South-to-North Water Diversion Project Management of the Ministry of Water Resources of China.
The South-to-North Water Diversion Project's central routehas been bringing more benefits to Central China's Henan province in recent years, according to the Department of Water Resources of Henan. So far, 30.50 million people living in the urban areas of 11 prefecture-level cities, 49 counties (county-level cities and districts) as well as 122 towns across Henan have been benefiting from the project.
Since its launch on December 12, 2014, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project's central route has become a lifeline of water supply for 26 large and medium-sized cities along the route and generated obvious economic, social and ecological benefits with enhanced water quality and reliable water supply. The guarantee rate of domestic water supply in these cities has jumped from less than 75 percent to more than 95 percent, and that of industrial water supply has exceeded more than 90 percent.
So far, over 70 percent of water in Bejing's urban area comes from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The domestic water in the main urban area of Tianjin also comes from the project. Besides, 11 prefecture-level cities of Henan use water from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. It is worth noting that over 90 percent of urban residents in Zhengzhou are using such water in their daily life. More than 5 million people in Cangzhou, Hengshui and Handan in North China's Hebei province end the long history of drinking high-fluoride water and brackish water. (Chinese source: Henan Daily Reporter: Tan Yong and Meng Xiangdong Translator: Yang Jiaxin Proofreader: Jiao Dan)