Interfax
August 2, 2006

The first phase of the ambitious south-north water diversion project will provide Beijing with a much-needed source of new water by the time the Olympic Games are held in the city in 2008, a top Chinese water official has confirmed.

Shanghai: The first phase of the ambitious South-North Water Diversion (SNWD) project will provide China’s capital, Beijing, with a much-needed source of new water by the time the Olympic Games are held in the city in 2008, confirmed an official with the Ministry of Water Resources on Tuesday. Li Guoying, the chairman of the MWR’s Yellow River Water Resources Commission, was speaking at a press conference held to introduce new regulations aimed at maintaining the water levels in the Yellow River, the faltering lifeline of nine northern Chinese provinces. He said that the transfer of water to Beijing by 2008 “should not be a problem”, with construction already underway on the central branch of the SNWD project, which will connect the capital to the Yangtze tributary, the Han.