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The South–North Water Transfer Project, also translated as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project〔This is the English translation preferred by the official web site, http://www.nsbd.gov.cn/zx/english/〕 () is a multi-decade infrastructure mega-project in the People's Republic of China. Ultimately it aims to channel 44.8 billion cubic meters of fresh water annually from the Yangtze River in southern China to the more arid and industrialized north through three canal systems: *The Eastern Route through the course of the Grand Canal; *The Central route flowing from the upper reaches of the Han River (a tributary of Yangtze River) to Beijing and Tianjin; *The Western route which goes from three tributaries of Yangtze River near the Bayankala Mountain to provinces like Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia. Mao Zedong had discussed the idea for a mass engineering project as an answer to China's water problems as early as 1952. He reportedly said, "there's plenty of water in the south, not much water in the north. If at all possible; borrowing some water would be good."〔The quote is given as “南方水多，北方水少，如有可能，借一点也是可以的” in (作家作品：毛泽东与南水北调 ) (Mao Zedong and the South-to-North Water Diversion Project), by Jin HUaichun (靳怀堾), at the project's official web site.〕 The complete project was expected to cost $62 billion – more than twice as much as the Three Gorges Dam.〔 By 2014, more than $79 billion had been spent, making it one of the most expensive engineering projects in the world.〔http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/gordon-g-chang/china%E2%80%99s-water-crisis-made-worse-policy-failures〕 ==Eastern route== The Eastern Route Project (ERP) consists of an upgrade to the Grand Canal, and will be used to divert a fraction of the total flow of the Yangtze River to Northern China. According to Chinese hydrologists, the entire flow of the Yangtze at the point of its discharge into the East China Sea is, on average, 956 km3 per year; the annual flow does not fall below around 600 km3 per year even in driest years.〔(Eastern Route Project (ERP) ), on the official project site; includes the map. (As one can see from the context, "956 million m3" on that page is apparently a typo for "956 billion m3".〕 As the project progresses, the amount of water to be diverted to the north will increase from 8.9 km3/year to 10.6 km3/year to 14.8 km3/year.〔 Water from the Yangtze River will be drawn into the canal in Jiangdu, where a giant 400 m³/s (12.6 billion m3/year if operated continuously) pumping station was built in the 1980s. The water will then be pumped by stations along the Grand Canal and through a tunnel under the Yellow River and down an aqueduct to reservoirs near Tianjin. Construction on the Eastern route began officially on December 27, 2002, and water was expected to reach Tianjin by 2012. However, in addition to construction delays, water pollution has affected the viability of the route. Initially the route was expected to provide water for the provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, with trial operations to begin in mid-2013. As of early 2013, no date has been set when water will reach Tianjin. Tianjin is expected to receive 1 billion m3/year. The Eastern route is not expected to supply Beijing which is to be supplied by the central route. The completed line will be slightly over 716 miles (1,152 km) long, equipped with 23 pumping stations with a power capacity of 454 megawatts.〔 An important element of the Eastern Route will be a tunnel crossing under the Yellow River, on the border of Dongping and Dong'e Counties of Shandong Province. The crossing will consist of two 9.3 m diameter horizontal tunnels, positioned 70 m under the riverbed of the Yellow River.〔 (South-to-North Water Diversion Project, China ), Water-Technology.net, September 2008. Also archived (here )〕〔 Due to the topography of the Yangtze Plain and the North China Plain, pumping stations will be needed to raise water from the Yangtze to the Yellow River crossing; farther north, the water will be flowing downhill in an aqueduct.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「South–North Water Transfer Project」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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