Construction work will begin on Phase One of the eastern line of China's South-North Water Diversion Project, with the Xietai Pumping Station in East China's Jiangsu Province, CCTV reported Monday.

The two-year project in Xuzhou City will cost nearly 200 million Yuan, or about 25 million US dollars. When completed, it will channel Yangtze River water to neighboring Shandong Province. The South-North water diversion project consists of three canals -- eastern, central, and western -- to move 44 billion cubic meters of water per year from the Yangtze River Basin to parched northern areas.

The eastern canal will transfer water from the lower reaches of the Yangtze from where it will be pumped north along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and then to the eastern part of the Huanghuai Plain. Its destination is the northern port city of Tianjin. 

2004/10/25
Source: Xinhuanet