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Water experts are dusting off one of China's most ambitious
blueprints to divert water from the flood-prone Yangtze River
basin to the thirsty north which suffers from chronic drought.
"The project could be completed within the next six to
eight years if construction is kicked off in the 2001-05 period,
the government's 10th Five-Year Plan," a senior official
with the Ministry of Water Resources said at a recent press
briefing.
This was the latest announcement on the proposed project since
1995 when 200 experts last discussed it.
The plan, first proposed in 1952 by the late Chairman Mao Zedong,
has been on the back burner since the initial proposal, sources
close to the ministry said.
Following nearly 50 years of research, the 100 billion yuan
(US$12.1 billion) project, designed to channel water from the
water-rich south to parched lands in the north and northwest,
will hopefully be turned into reality in the coming years, analysts
say.
Zhang Guoliang, director of South-to-North Water Transfer Planning
and Design Administration under the ministry, confirmed that
the Yangtze River water will be channeled through three alternate
routes in the west, middle and east regions.
Experts said some issues such as the price of water channeled
to the north should be settled before the project is started.
An outline on the overall plan of North China's water resources
is expected to be submitted to the central government by the
ministry this September, Zhang said, adding that "the compendium
can provide a basis for decision-makers in the 10th Five-Year
Plan."
On the price of the water, Zeng Zhaojing, deputy director of
the design administration, said the government should fix different
prices for different water users, indicating that higher prices
for industries and urban users would be reasonable.
Also a portion of the water to be diverted through the east
line is likely to be below the State-set standards for drinking,
experts say.
The long-awaited plan, a controversial one second only to the
on-going Three Gorges project, is becoming urgent with the ever-worsening
crisis of water resources in the north, particularly after this
spring's blanketing sandstorms.
It is also a must for China to support its development in the
arid and semi-arid western region, Zhang said.
Zhang and his experts made it clear that the project "is
the most challenging to optimize China's water resources, featuring
unbalanced distribution of water resources both geographically
and seasonally."
Annually, about 1,000 billion cubic meters of water from the
Yangtze runs into the sea while the Yellow River continues to
dry up.
"In the north, there are hardly any potential water sources,
which has restricted the region's economic development,"
said a report released by Zhang's agency.
The report says the proposed diversion would alleviate the worsening
water crisis in northern China, one of the country's most important
political, economic and cultural centers, and help further the
sustainable development of a national economy.
Zhang said that China has both the economic strength and technological
know-how to construct the east and middle transfer line.
(China Daily 06/21/2000)
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