Ten years of water connection to change the old appearance, thousand-year-old canal to take on a new look – Scan of 10 years of water connection on the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project
Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Shiping
On November 15, the first phase of the East Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project celebrated its 10th anniversary.
In the past 10 years, the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has diverted 6.14 billion cubic meters of water into Shandong, directly benefiting more than 68 million people. Since 2019, the South-to-North Water Diversion East Line North Extension Emergency Water Supply Project has transferred 587 million cubic meters of water to Hebei and Tianjin.
Starting from the Jiangdu Water Conservancy Project, the world‘s largest pumping station group gradually “lifts” the Yangtze River water northward. Over the past 10 years, the eastern route has continuously optimized the regional water resources allocation, promoted the recovery of the ecological environment of rivers and lakes along the route, exerted flood control and drainage benefits, and smoothed the economic cycle between the north and the south. The cultural role of the project has been highlighted.
The source of the east route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is the Jiangdu Water Conservancy Project. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Shiping
South-to-North Water Diversion Optimizes Water Resources Allocation
The east route of the South-to-North Water Diversion diverts water from the Yangtze River from Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and uses the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and rivers parallel to it to lift water and transport it north step by step. After leaving Dongping Lake, the troops are divided into two routes: one transports water northward across the Yellow River to northern Shandong, and the other transports water northward. The water reaches the Jiaodong Peninsula eastward, and the main water diversion line is 1,467 kilometers long.
“The eastern route has enhanced the water supply guarantee capacity of the water-receiving areas, realized the coordinated allocation of multiple water sources, supplemented water sources for the eastern part of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain and the Shandong Peninsula, and initially built the main skeleton and artery of the eastern national water network.” Office of China South-to-North Water Diversion Group Co., Ltd. Director Jing Shuguang said that the eastern route also improved the water diversion project system in northern Jiangsu and connected the channels for diverting water from the Yangtze River in Shandong and the water supply artery of the Jiaodong Peninsula.
The east line opens up the Yangtze River main stream water diversion channel to the north and establishes the basic layout of the local water network. The east line north extension emergency water supply project effectively promotes the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. It extends the water supply scope to Hebei and Tianjin. In order to ensure Spring irrigation reserves in the Tianjin-Hebei region provide water resources support for the development of Xiongan New Area and other Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomerations.
The Grand Canal interchange on the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion project is the Huaihe River’s entry into the sea. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Shiping
Environmental protection, pollution control, recovery of river and lake ecological environment
Yuan Qitian, deputy director of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Management Department of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that in the past 10 years, the east line has provided an important alternative water source to solve the long-term and cumulative problems of water ecology and water environment in the water-receiving areas, and played a role in environmental protection and pollution control along the line. played a powerful propulsive role. Through water source replacement, ecological water replenishment and other measures, the ecological security of rivers and lakes along the line has been effectively guaranteed.
Before the east line was connected to the water, Nansi Lake, known as the “Soy Sauce Lake”, has improved its water quality from Class V and inferior Class V to Class III through treatment. It ranks among the lakes with excellent water quality in the country and is a national first-level protected wildlife. , the blue-headed pochard, known as the “giant panda among birds”, has returned to settle in Nansi Lake.
Statistics show that since the east line was opened to water, a total of about 1.19 billion cubic meters of water has been supplied to the ecology along the line. The water area of the water receiving area has generally shown an increasing trend, with the water area increasing from 10,000 square kilometers to 15,000 square kilometers.
In strengthening the comprehensive management of groundwater overexploitation in North China, the east-line north extension emergency water supply project plays an important role. Among them, 334 million cubic meters of water will be replenished to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, helping the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal achieve full flow of water for two consecutive times in 2022 and 2023.
Taierzhuang Pumping Station on the East Line of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Shiping
The golden waterway smoothes the economic circulation between the north and the south
“The eastern route opens up the bottlenecks in the optimal allocation of water resources, solves the pain points of water shortages in water-receiving areas, and transforms the water resources advantages of the southern region into the economic advantages of the northern region.” Yuan Qitian said that the eastern route gives full play to the water resources strategy The allocation function can liberate the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal’s capacity constraints, release the production capacity of potential advantageous resource factors in Shandong, Hebei and other places, realize the complementary advantages and smooth flow of various resources and economic factors between the north and the south, and help improve the overall resource allocation efficiency.
In terms of promoting industrial upgrading, the eastern route has invested tens of billions of yuan in water source areas and areas along the route for water pollution control and ecological environment construction, prompting local governments along the route to actively adjust the industrial structure while increasing water pollution control, and develop a number of New ecological and environmental protection industry.
In terms of shipping, according to statistics, benefiting from the guaranteed water volume on the eastern route, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has a navigation mileage of 877 kilometers throughout the year, greatly improving regional water transport capacity.
At the same time, the culture and economy of the Grand Canal are mutually promoted. Jiangsu has focused on the discovery and protection of water conservancy cultural heritage, and the inheritance and development of water conservancy culture, and has created a number of water conservancy scenic business cards, promoting the quality of tourism resources along the route; in Shandong, 6 South-to-North Water Diversion Cultural Construction Pilot Bases including Taierzhuang have been established to combine regional culture with Water conservancy projects are integrated organically.
“The South-to-North Water Diversion Project is activating the millennium-old canal culture, the eastern route project and cultural integration continue to advance, and the Grand Canal, a world cultural heritage, is radiating new vitality and vitality,” Jing Shuguang said.