Focus
Is water pipeline project merely a pipe dream?
By Jiang Xueqing and Shao Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-29 07:58
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'Matter of time'
As the seawater pipeline will involve both Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, it must win approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). However, China's regulations only cover the transfer of freshwater.
"There's no precedent for seawater transfer," said Zhao Ping in Xilin Gol. "That's what makes the project difficult. Even the NDRC's chairman may not be sure which department should take care of it."
Xilin Gol's government originally filed the project with the NDRC in the name of developing its eco-industry. It was rejected in November 2007.
In a written reply, the NDRC raised concerns about technologies, sustainable economic development and ecological protection. It concluded that, as it is hard to tell what the environmental impact will be, "relevant projects are not yet qualified for approval".
Officials in Xilin Gol revised the plan and re-filed the proposals in June last year, this time in the name of developing a cyclical industrial economy. No reply has so far been received.
Despite still waiting for approval, Wang at Hongyuan Seawater Desalination Corporation is confident it is "only a matter of time". With support from the league's authorities, on April 9 he started preparation work, including scientific experiments, at five construction sites.
"If our experimental projects succeed, they will lay the foundations for the real ones to be approved," said Zhao. "The NDRC may feel worried but if we achieve something to show them, (I don't think) they'd hesitate to give (us) permission."
Although the public suspects transferring seawater to Inner Mongolia will destroy the local ecology, experts say it is basically an industrial project that has little to do with the environment.
"The only problem left (for architects of the project) is to make sure that, first, the seawater is stored safely after it arrives at Inner Mongolia," said Xia Qing, who heads a team of eco-environment experts on the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and is a former vice-president of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.
"Second," he continued, "all the salt in the water must be chemically recycled, and third, byproducts and waste from the salt chemical industry need to be well taken care of.
"To ensure the project will have zero effect on the environment, professionals need to calculate the cost," added Xia.
According to estimates by China BCEL International Engineering Co Ltd, total investment in the entire cyclical economy project will top 109 billion yuan ($16.34 billion). Hongyuan, which has a registered capital of 20 million yuan, has already injected 260 million yuan in the preparation work, said Wang.