Beijing has come to rely more and more on groundwater, which currently makes up more than 70% of its total water supply. ���Lii��ʈbaC)f=c�TE��QX�(XAU a�`N��QG*X�o�;��٩�l�"�+�W�J�@51!Ĵ��(���,X0+`N���M��r������֥ It is no exaggeration to say the future of China’s economy is threatened by lack of water. It is the largest transfer of water between river basins in history, and China’s main response to its worst environmental threat, which is (despite all the pollution) lack of water. They were depleting local supplies, he thought, because they knew the inundation from the south would one day rescue them. Channelling water from south to north does more harm than good. endobj 9 0 obj But officials at the headwaters in Danjiangkou say that less than half of the planned extraction was taken out of the reservoir in 2017. Eight have only half that amount. But it is not. The water supply in Beijing is achieved mainly through public utility, self-reliant wells and rural collective waterworks. So the project has no direct effect on usage. <> Yet the city suffered no supply disruptions, unlike Shanxi province to the west (see map), where local governments rationed water. It could be self sufficient, he argued, if it saved water and cut pollution. “The solution to China’s water-supply problem is conservation,” he said in 2013. The government also took 40% of what it paid him for his land, claiming this was really the government’s. The public utility is operating 68 waterworks with daily capacities of 5 million m3, supplying water for downtown and newly-built urban areas. <> 1��("8y��⮌�n[�����(�'��اH This has slowed. The first years of operation, they claim, show the project to be an unqualified success. endobj %PDF-1.5 The whole project, if ever completed, would transfer up to 45bn cubic metres of water a year, or 7% of China’s water consumption. <> At the end of 2017 a new tariff system went into effect in nine of the 11 water-stressed provinces. Responsibility for water supply and sanitation policies at the national level is shared between five Ministries. So the project does not cover the current shortfall, which is made up by underground water. And he appears to recognise that the Yangzi basin needs protecting. (Jaw-dropping hydrological achievements are a feature of Chinese history.) The South-to-North Water Diversion Project—to give the structure its proper name—is the most expensive infrastructure enterprise in the world. endobj endobj No rain or snow fell in Beijing between October 23rd and March 17th—by far the longest drought on record. The central government is exultant, since the project which irrigates Beijing was built at vast cost and against some opposition. 17 0 obj To compensate for water taken from their rivers, local governments are also building dams wherever they can to divert it back again. This is partly because the price of reservoir water is high and therefore demand has been lower than expected. ��r_�`�t8��T�b���x���. Because the population of the city is … endobj endobj In practice, the project has been largely a water-delivery system for the capital. The water gushes north by canal and pipeline, crosses the Yellow river by burrowing under it, and arrives, 15 days later, in the water-treatment plants of Beijing. They produce 45% of the country’s GDP and generate half of its power. In short, the project would not solve north China’s water shortages even if it were working as planned. Since Beijing is one of the wealthiest parts of China and the area around the reservoir is relatively backward, the project takes from the poor and gives to the rich. <> The two working stretches can divert 25bn tonnes of water annually from south to north. In smaller towns, local government sometimes provides services directly. stream 8 0 obj <> <> These included the mainstays of Danjiangkou’s economy: fish farming and turmeric processing. Back in 1952 Mao Zedong concluded that “the south has plenty of water, the north much less. By diverting water from the Yangzi, the project has made the river more sluggish. In 2017 water in nearly one-tenth of samples taken from the Yellow river was deemed unfit even for farming. 14 0 obj A third link is planned on the Tibetan plateau, but since that area is prone to earthquakes and landslides, it has been postponed indefinitely. ��8 ��Hs���O(�%R�m���رeG Hardly. An eastern route opened in 2013 using the ancient Grand Canal between Hangzhou and the capital. endobj When the project was designed, officials were at pains to argue that all north China would benefit. Under a government reorganisation in March, the environment ministry took over supervision of the diversion scheme. 7 0 obj 12 0 obj China has built the world’s largest water-diversion project, Pictographs survive in a Chinese tourist town, Hong Kong’s new security law is being applied sparingly, so far, To put idle land to use, Chinese officials want to erase many villages. 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",#(7),01444'9=82. If possible, the north should borrow a little.” The project does this by linking the Yangzi river in the south with regions to north. <> Four-fifths of the country’s water is in the south, where half the population lives. <> x���Ko�8����(0��@Q �)�E���A�Ȏ��:J�|��ZlbKH���Lњ���8?��u�*����IQ$�����yQ����˧��:�l���������"4]�y��޽���)��N8���E࠽fR�Sȼ�]:�|y�t�XN'��\O'�+��Y��i�`yO}.o,l走)����t�5��,�O'���O�Io�B2%��/�VƠ����� �9�|P08�x Mr Zhao says local officials paid him 450 yuan per square metre for his old house but charged 1,000 yuan per square metre for his new one. 1 0 obj The arid ones include four of China’s five biggest farming provinces. 3 0 obj Its journey begins in a remote and hilly part of central China at the Danjiangkou reservoir, on the bottom of which lies the drowned city of Junzhou, reputed to be the birthplace of Taoism. In north China as a whole, water demand is forecast by the government to reach 200bn cubic metres by 2050. Water from the diversion project is pricier than that from local sources, which in theory should mean it will encourage conservation. <> Sewers back up, pipes leak. Not so. endobj 4 0 obj Two-thirds of the city’s tap water and a third of its total supply now comes from Danjiangkou. <> 0�c������C�m J���"�6��e޼�@xˌ+=��5��p\*� �����TZ2aZS� Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2020. The two parts of the water project built so far would cover just one-eighth of that. 5 0 obj endobj It has become less able to wash away contaminants and unable to sustain wetlands, which act as sponges and reduce flooding. endobj Village committees op… 15 0 obj The project was controversial from the start. 2 0 obj The land ministry says that half the groundwater in the north China plain is too dirty for factories. The history of Beijing's piped water supply began in 1908, with the founding of the Jingshi Tap Water Co. A year earlier a fire had broken out at the Empress Dowager Cixi's palace and because of a lack of water, the fire got out of control and destroyed many valuable items.

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