As water-diversion projects in the eastern province of Zhejiang were being put out to tender, the country's first sale of water-use rights was being finalized.
The diversion project will eventually transfer water from the city of Dongyang's Hengjin Reservoir to the neighboring Yiwu City at a cost of 270 million yuan (US$32.5). It involves 13 sub-projects, which have been up for tender.
Construction of the first two sub-projects will begin on Monday and will finish within 20 months, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The entire project covering a 36-km-long waterway will be completed within two years.
In November 2000, with a single payment of 200 million yuan, Yiwu - in the lower reaches of the Jinhua River - bought the rights to use nearly 50 million cubic meters of water from Dongyang, which is in the upper reaches of the river.
Well known for marketing small-size merchandise, Yiwu is so short of water that people often have to carry buckets of mineral water to their homes for drinking and cooking.
(People?s Daily January 25, 2002)
