With China hosting the Olympic Games and water from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project – the largest of its kind ever undertaken – scheduled to begin supplying a thirsty Beijing, 2008 is shaping up to be a major showcase year for the country. This massive scheme has already taken 50 years from conception to commencement and is expected to take almost as long again to construct. Planned for completion in 2050, it will eventually divert 44.8 billion m³ of water annually to the population centres of the drier north.
When finished, the work will link China’s four main rivers – the Yangtze, Yellow River, Huaihe and Haihe – and requires the construction of three diversion routes, stretching south-to-north across the eastern, central and western parts of the country.
The complete project is expected to cost $62bn – more than twice as much as the country’s controversial Three Gorges Dam.
