Beijing reaps benefits from China's mega water diversion project

BEIJING -- A mega water diversion project has so far benefited more than 15 million residents of Beijing, local water authorities said on Wednesday.

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project has transferred over 9.3 billion cubic meters of water from rivers in the south of the country to the nation's capital over the past nine years, according to the Beijing Water Authority.

Beijing has long been troubled by water scarcity, relying significantly on water sources from the southern regions.

Of the total transferred water, 6.3 billion cubic meters of water have been supplied for the domestic use of Beijing residents over the past years. The project has also replenished water for ecological purposes and revived many rivers and lakes, which has greatly improved the city's biodiversity.

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project has three routes. The middle route, the most prominent of the three as it feeds water to the nation's capital, starts at the Danjiangkou Reservoir and runs across the Henan and Hebei provinces before reaching Beijing and Tianjin. It began supplying water on Dec 12, 2014.

The eastern route has transferred water from East China's Jiangsu province to areas including Tianjin and Shandong. The western route is still in the planning stage.

According to official data, the project has transferred over 67 billion cubic meters of water to the country's arid northern areas over the past nine years.