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China will delay ambitious plans to divert billions of water to its arid north amid environmental concerns, reports the Wall Street Journal.
China will delay the central three sections of the $62 billion “South-to-North” water diversion project, a scheme that will use channels to move water from central and southern regions to the North. The price tag is more than three times that of the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project that was completed this past October. The project, which was first proposed by Mao Zedong in 1952, will require the relocation of 300,000 people.
The delay will primarily affect the central section of the project, pushing out the completion date from 2010 to 2014. The eastern route, which largely tracks the ancient Grand Canal, is mostly completed, while the most challenging section — the western route, which requires moving water over mountainous terrain — isn’t slated for operation until around 2050, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Chinese government says the project will help relieve chronic water shortages in the Beijing and surrounding areas. Critics say the project will waste massive amounts of water through evaporation and worse pollution. Some local governments have become critical of the project and unusually, China state media has been allowed to report on the controversy.
Shai Oster. China Slows Water Project. Wall Street Journal, DECEMBER 31, 2008
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