South-to-North Water Diversion Project
南水北调
China's south-to-north water diversion project, to bring relief to China's drought-ridden north by diverting water from the Yangtze River, is an-other mammoth water conservancy scheme larger even than the Three Gorges Project. The late chairman Mao Zedong first proposed the idea of the diversion project in 1952, intending the ambitious scheme to ease the growing water shortages in the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and the northern provinces of Hebei, Henan and Shandong. The south-to-north water diversion project, a result of 50 years of investigation and research, aims to divert water from the Yangtze River valley to the reaches of Yellow River, Huaihe River and Haihe River so as to ensure the water supply for farming, industry and life in northern China. The project will have three water diversion routes, namely the eastern route, middle route and western route.
南水北调工程是我国优化配置水资源的重大举措，是解决华北、西北地区缺水的一项战略性基础设施工程。此工程的规模和难度都超过三峡工程。为解决北京、天津、河北、河南和山东日益严重的缺水状况，自1952年毛泽东主席提出南水北调工程设想以来，广大科技工作者持续进行了50年的勘测、规划、研究，分别在长江下游、中游和上游规划了三条调水线路，形成了南水北调东线、中线和西线调水的基本方案。通过三条调水线路与长江、黄河、淮河和海河四大江河的联系，为华北地区供应农业、工业生产用水及生活用水。
The eastern route is expected to supply Shandong Province and the northern part of Jiangsu, linking Shandong with the Yangtze River and bringing water north to the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain via the Beijing-Hang-zhou Grand Canal. Diverted from a major branch of Yangtze River, near Yangzhou city, the water will travel along existing river channels to the Weishan mountains of Shandong, before crossing the Yellow River via a tunnel and flowing to Tianjin.
东线工程的供水范围是黄淮海平原东部地区。东线调水工程从长江下游扬州附近抽引长江水，利用和扩建京杭大运河逐级提水北送，经洪泽湖、骆马湖、南四湖和东平湖，在位山附近穿过黄河后可自流，经运河到天津。
The central route diverts water from the Danjiangkou reservoir on the Han River via new canals near the west edge of the Huanghuaihai Plain to flow through Henan and Hebei Provinces to Beijing-a diversion rout totalling some l,246km in length. The nearby city of Tianjin will also draw water from the trunk line near Xushui in Hebei Province.
中线工程的供水范围是北京、天津、华北平原及沿线湖北、河南两省部分地区。中线调水工程从汉江丹江口水库引水，沿伏牛山和太行山山前平原，京广铁路西侧，自流输水到北京、天津，输水总干渠长1246千米。
Construction of the western route-which involves working on the Qtinghai-Tibet Plateau-between 3 ,000m- 5 ,000m above sea level-will involve overcoming some major engineering and climatic challenges. Once completed in 2050, the project will bring water from three tributaries of the Yangtze- the Tongtian, Yalong and Dadu rivers-nearly 500km across the Bayankala Mountains and then on to north- west China.
西线工程的供水范围包括青海、甘肃、宁夏、内蒙古、陕西和山西六省（区）。西线调水工程引水工程拟定从长江上游干支流通天河、雅砻江、大渡河调水，克服施工难、气候差的挑战，穿过500多千米的巴颜喀拉山进入位于黄河上游的西北地区。
The project was formally launched in 2002. Once it is completed in 2050, about 38 billion t0 48 billion cubic meters of water will be transferred yearly to the areas with a population of 300 million.
南水北调工程在2002年正式开工，预计在2050年全部完工后每年可解决3亿人口380亿到480亿立方米的用水问题。