Water Transfer Case Study — China

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

China’s South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) aims to move huge quantities of water form the humid south of the country to the arid north

Question 2

Social Facts

Answer 2

Villagers without water in the north;
Out migration;
Those that spoke got beaten or arrested;
Fisherman’s livelihood destroyed;
400 cities short of water;
3 routes involved making it an inter-basin water transfer scheme;
Transfer of 12 trillion gallons of water per year over a distance of more than 1,000 km;
Millions cm^3 water transported

Question 3

Economic Facts

Answer 3

$62bn scheme;
Work started in 2002;
$800 compensation given to fishermen by government;
45% GDP from water scarce areas;
World’s most expensive transfer scheme. Now stands at $79bn. Worth it?;
Water transferred in one channels = evaporation losses

Question 4

Environmental Facts

Answer 4

Pursuing water intensive fracking;
55% of rivers dried up in China in 20 years;
Since 1960, droughts in south, so can’t provide enough water;
Farmers experience wilting/droughts;
Fish dying from water pull

Question 5

Eastern Route

Answer 5

Completed in 2013:
+ Provides water for domestic and industrial use by the cities of Tianjin and Weihai;
+ Uses existing canals, rivers and lakes
- All 3 polluted by agriculture and industry, so transferring polluted water!;
- Farmers won’t benefit and ecosystems have been disturbed

Question 6

Central Route

Answer 6

Completed in 2014:
+ Provides water for 20 large cites including Beijing;
- Displaced 300,000 people — due to the creation of a reserve at Dajingkou;
- Farmers won’t benefit and ecosystems have been disturbed

Question 7

Western Route

Answer 7

Not completed yet — Need to construct several dams on Yangtze — Currently on hold:

• Need to tunnel through Bayankala Mountains;
• Huge costs and environmental impacts;
• Area suffers earthquakes!