Water diversion project quenches Beijing's thirst

The total amount of water coming from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to Beijing has reached over 100 million cubic meters since December 27 last year, easing the water shortage of the city, said the city's water authority on Monday.

Beijing's thirsty neighbor receives water from the south

Beijing's neighboring province of Hebei began receiving water through the south-north water diversion project Thursday, local authorities said.

The middle route's first-stage project supplies more than three billion cubic meters of water annually to the province, said Yuan Fu, chief of Hebei's office of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

South-north canal starts flowing to ease water woes. (video: South to North Water Diversion Project)

The 1,432-kilometer long artificial waterway diverting water from China's south to solve the water shortage crisis in the north, particularly Beijing, started operation on Friday.

About 9.5 billion cubic meters of water will pass through the newly-built canal each year from Danjiangkou reservoir in Central China's Hubei Province to cities like Beijing and Tianjin, as well as more than 100 cities in Henan and Hebei provinces, according to a report by China Central Television.

Beijing closes 6,900 wells to protect underground water (video:South-to-North Water Diversion Project)

Beijing will gradually shut down 6,900 urban wells in the next five years to protect groundwater and improve drinking water quality.

The wells provide 240 million cubic meters of water annually, one fourth of the Beijing's urban supply, said Zhang Ping, deputy head of the Beijing water authority.