Beijing receives 3 bln cubic meters of water from water diversion project

By Dec. 19, Beijing has received three billion cubic meters of water from the Yangtze River since the South-to-North Water Diversion project started to supply water to the city at the end of 2014, according to Beijing South-to-North Water Diversion Office. During the past three years, the quality of water diverted has remained stable at the level of Class II of environmental quality standard for surface water. 

Before receiving water from the south, Beijing had a per capita volume of water resources of 100 cubic meters, far below the international warning line for water shortage. The Miyun Reservoir, which has a capacity of 4.3 billion cubic meters, had been operating at a low water level for years -- at times dropping below one billion cubic meters. 

After the completion of the water diversion project, Beijing first allocated water to its residents as drinking water. Currently eight waterworks in the city receive more than 2.2 million cubic meters of water from the Yangtze every day. Over the past three years, the waterworks have accommodated 2.02 billion cubic meters of water from the south, and supplied the water to central urban areas as well as to districts on the outskirts like Daxing, Mentougou, Changping and Tongzhou. More than 11 million Beijing residents have enjoyed the water from the Yangtze. 

In addition, the city deposited the remaining water from the south into reservoirs such as Miyun, Huairou and Shisanling to increase its water reserve. Over the past three years, the Miyun Reservoir has reduced its outbound volume by about 2.2 billion cubic meters, and has accumulated 379 million cubic meters of water from the Yangtze. During the past year or so, the reservoir kept making new records of water storage levels since 2000. Now, its water storage capacity has reached 2.025 billion cubic meters, providing water security to the city. 

The water from the south also boosted Beijing's groundwater levels and granted the city an emergency water reserve. With the nourishment of south water for only one year, the level of the city's groundwater has already begun to increase. By the end of October, compared with the same period last year, the groundwater level of the city's plain areas has increased by 0.24 meters, and the groundwater reserves has increased by 120 million cubic meters. The conservation and recovery of groundwater in Miyun, Huairou and Shunyi emergency water sources also yielded significant outcomes. Since this year, the average level of groundwater has increased by 6.96 meters, with the largest increase reaching 17.13 meters. 

The stable supply of water from the south provided strong security for the functions of the city and the relocation of non-capital functions. The commission of the Tongzhou Waterworks since August alleviated Beijing's water shortage effectively, and offered abundant water for the construction of the city's subsidiary administrative center. In addition, the construction of more south-north water diversion supporting facilities in Daxing, Yizhuang and Fengtai districts will further promote the relocation of non-capital functions and balance urban and rural water supply.