China has officially commenced the construction of a groundbreaking water diversion project aimed at addressing the acute water shortages in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. The project, launched on Friday, will channel water from the Dadu River into the ancient Dujiangyan irrigation system, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has been pivotal in the region’s agricultural prosperity for over 2,000 years. The initiative will leverage a natural elevation drop to transport water through an extensive network of over 260 kilometers of tunnels and pipelines to the Chengdu Plain, supplementing the existing water supply from the Minjiang River. Scheduled for completion in eight years, the project is expected to transfer 1.39 billion cubic meters of water annually by 2040, increasing to 1.52 billion cubic meters by 2050. This ambitious endeavor will benefit 34.13 million people across 43 county-level areas in eight cities, while also supporting vast tracts of farmland. The project, which has been in the planning stages since the 1950s, represents a critical component of China’s national water network, integrating urban and rural water supply, irrigation, ecological water replenishment, and emergency water sourcing. As rapid socio-economic development in western China continues to strain water resources, this project marks a significant step in ensuring sustainable water management for the region’s future growth.
China starts construction of water diversion project to quench thirst of metropolis
