This year marks the 5th time that the North Extension Emergency Water Supply Project of the first phase of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (the Eastern Route) has implemented water diversion since its trial operation in 2019. As of March 2, 2025, a total quantity of over 1 billion m3 of water has been diverted to the north area of the Yellow River, thus providing important supplementary water sources for ecological and agricultural water use in Tianjin municipality, Hebei province and Shandong province. This effectively alleviates the shortage of ecological water along the route, and continuously plays a positive role in improving water security and promoting green ecological development.
The Project is a key measure to carry out the comprehensive action plan for groundwater over-exploitation in North China, with the goals of replacing agricultural water in the over-exploited areas of deep groundwater in Hebei and Tianjin with the diverted water, so as to mitigate the depletion of groundwater in North China, and recharging water to rivers, lakes and wetlands to improve ecological environment in the mean time. Since 2022, it has also served as the main water source for 3 consecutive years to realize the full-channel connectivity of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, with a cumulative replenishment of about 580 million m3 of water. Eventually, the Project has become a pivotal guarantee for practicing the comprehensive management of groundwater over-exploitation in North China, replenishing water to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and fostering the ecological environment recovery of rivers and lakes along the route.
Source: INTCE