F3 GEOGRAPHY

South-to-North Water Transfer

Project
PRESENTED BY 3C GROUP 2
Background to The South-to-North Water
Transfer Project

Before we dive into the details, why was the project needed

in the first place?

Northern China was dry and its water resources were not

enough to serve the growing population

The concept of "borrowing" water from the south was

constructed in the early 1950s, and the construction

continues even to today!

Introduction to the Project
Fun facts about the South-To-North Water

Transport Project

Consists of 3 "Routes", East, North, and West.

Construction costs for the eastern and

central routes was estimated to be 254.6

billion yuan

The project was considered too immense and

costly to be undertaken at the time.

It was condemned for its extensive damage

to the environment!
We will now discuss the details of
the routes...

Starting with the East Route.

 Also Known as the Eastern Route Project

An upgrade to the grand canal, used to divert

some water to Northern China from the

A Yangtze river.

The eastern route was expected to supply

Shandong Province and the northern part of

Jiangsu, serving a population of 1.1 million

people.

The completed line will be slightly over 1,152 km

(716 miles) long, equipped with 23 pumping

THE FIRST ROUTE:
stations with a power capacity of 454

THE EAST ROUTE megawatts

 The Central route, also colloquially known as the

Grand AqueductIs is built on and across the North

China Plain.

Construction C
of the central route began in

December 2003. It was planned to be finished

THE SECOND ROUTE

THE CENTRAL ROUTE before the commencement of Beijing Olympic

Games in August 2008 to provide Beijing with

drinking water.

The Central route runs from Danjiangkou Reservoir

on the Han river, a tributary of the Yangtze River,

to Beijing.

The Central Route project was postponed to 2014

due to the expansion of the Danjiangkou reservoir

 THE THIRD ROUTE

THE WEST ROUTE Once completed in 2050, the route will bring

4 billion cubic meters of water from three

tributaries of the Yangtze – the Tongtian,

Yalong and Dadu rivers – nearly 500km across

the Bayankala Mountains and then on to

northwest China.

The western canal is relatively short, running

around 300 kilometers. It is also the most

complex and technically demanding part of

the South-North Water Transfer Project.

The project requires the digging of tunnels

and aqueducts in high-altitude mountains.

 THE P R O B L EMS

What difficulties were faced during the

construction of the project?

 THE FIRST PROBLEM

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
This project is naturally invasive to its

surrounding environments, and massive

amounts of dirt and trees are removed to

pave the road for construction

The unnatural water relocation caused

major disruption to the water cycle by

increasing evaporation losses.

 THE SECOND PROBLEM

WATER QUALITY
Farmers in Dong Ping lake reported that

the water imported were killing their

fishes at mass quantities

The water was severely polluted with

trash in some areas that the water pulled

from the south were unusable on the

central route.
 THE THIRD PROBLEM

MASSIVE COSTS
The project, as of 2014 has spent $79

billion , making it one of the most

expensive civil construction projects in

history.

The number is expected to grow

exponentially over the next decade.

Here's our suggestions of this project.

We've though of three ways to improve this project...



1 | Improve environmental
protection
Measures such as thorough geographical

research can determine whether

excavation of
land is necessary

II | More Communication
More consultation and communication

with locals and residents can allow the

community's needs to be fufilled during

the construction.

III | Quality Control

Water sourced from the south should get

sample checked regularly to ensure the

quality of doesn't get polluted from the

source.
 After studying this project, we can conclude

that...

This project's effectiveness to bring water

OUR E V A L U ATION
to dry lands in Northern China has been

mostly successful, and people have

greatly benefited from the scheme

With better planning, technology,

communication and compassion, this

project can set a worldwide sample to

how water infrastructure can be built.

WORK DISTRIBUTION
3C13 ANDREW HO RESEARCH, POWERPOINT PREPARATION

3C12 HANSON FUNG RESEARCH, POWERPOINT MAKING

3C11 MATTHEW CHUI RESEARCH, POWERPOINT PREPARATION

3C10 MORGAN CHONG RESEARCH

3C8 TIMMY CHEUNG RESEARCH