The most fertile region will receive even more water.
China has begun implementing a large project to divert water from the Daduhé River into the Dujiangyan irrigation system, through which additional water will flow to the city of Chengdu – the administrative center of Sichuan Province.
For two thousand years, the Dujiangyan system, built in the 3rd century BC and now a UNESCO World Heritage site, has directed part of the waters of the Minjiang River into the vast Chengdu Plain, making it the most fertile area in the Middle Kingdom. However, with the accelerated socio-economic development of western regions of China, the area has begun to experience a shortage of water resources. It is projected that by 2030–2035, the population of the economic zone of the plain will exceed 46 million people, leading to a critical water supply deficit.
The project is scheduled to be implemented over 8 years. According to the plan, water pumped from the Daduhé River will travel over 260 km through tunnels and pipelines via natural elevation changes to reach the Chengdu Plain. As a result, 34.13 million local residents will gain access to additional water resources.
The waters of most rivers in China flow east and south, emptying into the Pacific Ocean, with only a small number flowing into the Indian Ocean. The Ertisi (Irtysh) River flows north from Xinjiang and empties into the Arctic Ocean beyond the border.
The basins of more than one and a half thousand rivers exceed 1,000 sq. km. The average annual runoff of rivers in China is about 2.7 trillion cubic meters, ranking sixth in the world after Brazil, Russia, Canada, the USA, and Indonesia. More well-known rivers in China include the Yangtze, Yellow River, Heilongjiang, Yarlung Tsangpo, Zhujiang, and others. The Tarim River in Xinjiang is the longest of China's inland rivers, stretching 2,100 km.
Due to the fact that the sources of most rivers in China are located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the elevation changes are significant, creating favorable conditions for utilizing hydroelectric resources, which total 680 million kW and rank first in the world. However, water resources in China are unevenly distributed, with 70% located in the southwest of the country. The hydroelectric resources of the Yangtze account for about 40% of all water resources in the country, while the river systems of Yarlung Tsangpo, Yellow River, and Zhujiang are also rich in hydroelectric resources.
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