SOUTH-NORTH WATER TRANSFER PROJECT
Negative Impacts
Ecological Costs
Social Costs
1. Flooding near the channel
-> loss of lives and property
-> eg: raising of the Danjiangkou Reservoir
water level (Koga, 2004)
-> displacement of people at the
exporting region, is anticipated
over 224,000 people;
-> estimated 4.794km2 of urban
development and 156.7 km2 of
farmland will be inundated
1. Destroy the ecoystsem
- reduced water velocity and amount in the exporting regions
-> eg: may lead to algae bloom in downstream of Xiangfan (Zhu et al., 2008)
-> constraining the formation of wetland
and growth of its inhabitants
2. Degrading environmental quality
-> forming air pollution, waste pollution,
acid rain & water pollution during and
after construction
Economic Costs
Constraints & Difficulties
Example:
1. Damage the economy of southern China
- reduction of fresh water
-> seawater intrusion e.g. in Yangtze estuary
-> affecting fishing industry
2. Huge sustaining cost of electricity
-> 23 new pumping stations required electricity to operate of 1.02 million kW (Koga, 2004)
3. Huge cost of water purification in the southern
China
-> Estimated cost of the water treatment
facilities is 30-35 billion Yuan
(Koga, 2004)
1. Availability of water in the water-exporting region
-> along the central route,
water is heavily polluted
-> eg: Danjiangkou Reservoir
-> drying up of exporting
river in drought season
Eastern route: suspended for negotiation between upstream and downstream provinces due to increasing requirements and opinios in upstream Jiangsu Province (Liu and Zheng, 2002)
Hebei: changing growing crops; shutting down of enterprises; reducing tax revenues and increasing unemployment
-> the provincial and municipal authorities urge the
central government for compensating the loss of the
localities (Freeman, n.d.)
3. Inter-provincial competition and conflict of interest hinders the implement of central route
2. More oppositions and skepticism expressing publicly, eg:
-> Qiu Baoxing, vice minister of
the Ministry of Housing and
Urban-Rural Development
-> Cheng Jiagang, the vice mayor of
Shiyan city
-> Scientists from Huazhong University of
Science and Technology
South-North Water Transfer Project
Introduction
Agenda
1. Introduction
2. Potential Impacts
3. Substantial constraints
4. Justification of sustainability
5. Conclusion
Positive impacts
Justification
of sustainability
Social benefits
1. Easing the water scarcity by providing water
for domestic and industrial uses in the arid north
Ecologically
Economically
1. Worsening pollution in the South
and spreading to the North
eg: residue leaks
2. Irreversible degradation of ecology
eg: loss of wetland, fishery etc....
2. Improving life quality
-> reduced unemployment and enhanced economic
development
-> reducing the risk of flooding
1. Increasing construction cost
2. Increasing water
treatment cost
3. Economic loss in the south
>? economic gain in the North?
Ecological Benefits
Economic Benefits
Socially
1. Balancing economic development between
the North and the South in agriculture and
industries.
1. Quantity VS Quality ???!
-> Pollution
-> Health problem
1. Enhancing biodiversity
-> increasing water quantity and quality
-> a better habitat for water organism
-> Restoring and maintaining aquatic
ecosystems in the water-importing region
eg: Haihe River (Wei et al., 2008)
2. Enhancing the forest ecosystem
3. Wetland preservation
-> modifying micro-climate
A pipe discharging waste water into the Yangtze River
IS THE WASTE WATER TREATED?
2. Increasing job opportunities and reducing
unemployment (Koga, 2004)
source: http://chindia-alert.org/
Suggestions
Reference
1. water pricing and trading (Freeman, n.d.)
2. Rainfall harvesting (Wang, 2014)
3. Desalinization (Wang, 2014)
4. Recycling waste water (Wang, 2014)
Conclusion
Freeman, C. (n.d.). Quenching the Dragon’s Thirst-- The South-North Water Transfer Project—Old Plumbing for New China? Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars , 4-10.
Water Technology. (n.d.) South-to-North Water Diversion Project, China. http://www.water-technology.net/projects/south_north, accessed on November 21, 2014.
Jaffe, A. and Schneider, K. (2011). A Dry and Anxious North Awaits China’s Giant, Unproven Water Transport Scheme. Circle of Blue.
Koga, Fumie. (2004), ‘China's South-to-North water diversion scheme The geographical distribution of environmental and socioeconomic consequences’, M.A Thesis, The University of Hawaii, Hawaii.
Zhu, Y.P., Zhang, H.P., Chen, L & Zhao J.F. (2008), “Influence of the South–North Water Diversion Project and the mitigation projects on the water quality of Han River”, Science of the Total Environment, vol.406, pp.57-68.
Wei, Y., Miao, H &Ouyang, Z. (2008), “Environmental water requirements and sustainable water resource management in the Haihe River Basin of North China”, International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, vol.15, pp.113-121.
Far-reaching monetary, environmental and social costs
Good rationale
to improve people's livelihood
GEOG 3102- China: Environment and Sustainable Developement Presentation
Members: Cheung Ka Hong 3035050585
Kong Pui Wing 3035050195
Wong Lok Hei 3035053197