China’s South-North Water Transfer Project – the world’s largest engineering project – will eventually pump 45 billion cubic metres of water each year from the Yangtze to the Yellow River to feed the cities and coal fields of northern and western China, which are running out of water. The amount of water diverted every year will be equivalent to a second Yellow River.



This Mao-era dream involves the construction of three canals, of which the eastern was finished in 2013, and the central route was officially launched on December 12, 2014

The project, now estimated to cost 500 billion yuan (US$80 billion), remains a government priority, despite controversy over its expense, impacts on agriculture and mass relocations of communities.



Explore this story map to discover how the mega diversion scheme will affect different areas of China and the problems that have emerged since construction began in 2002.

Click on image to begin the story map or follow this link