South-North Water Diversion Middle Route Exceeds 80 Billion Cubic Meters, Serving 118 Million People
The South-North Water Diversion project's middle route has delivered over 80 billion cubic meters of water northward, benefiting nearly 118 million people across Henan, Hebei, Tianjin, and Beijing. The operator, China South-to-North Water Diversion Group, released the data on August 7, 2026. The route has supplied 27 major cities and 243 counties, with Beijing's central urban area relying on the water for about 80% of its supply and Hebei's affected population accounting for about 70% of the province's total.
The middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has cumulatively transferred more than 80 billion cubic meters of water to northern China, benefiting nearly 118 million people in Henan, Hebei, Tianjin, and Beijing, and providing water-resource support for the economic and social development of 27 large and medium-sized cities and 243 counties and districts along the route. The data was released by China South-to-North Water Diversion Group on August 7, 2026. The middle route began operation on December 12, 2014. Via a 1,432-kilometer main canal, it diverts water from the Danjiangkou Reservoir, located at the border of Henan and Hubei provinces, to northern China. Over nearly 12 years of operation, water supply has grown steadily and the service area has expanded. Currently, water from the project accounts for nearly 80% of Beijing's central urban area, almost all of Tianjin's main urban area, and about 70% of Hebei's population. Local authorities have been advancing integrated urban-rural water supply, improving access for rural residents. Water quality has consistently met or exceeded Class II of the surface-water standard. The peach blossom jellyfish, sensitive to water quality, has appeared frequently in recent years. Through ecological water replenishment, the long-term decline of groundwater levels in the North China Plain has been fundamentally reversed. Fifty rivers, including Fuyang, Qili, and Hutuo, have been fully connected, and the Yongding River has maintained year-round flow. The water ecology of rivers and lakes in the region continues to improve. For operation and maintenance, more than 100,000 monitoring instruments and over 5,000 data-acquisition devices have been deployed along the entire route. A digital-twin water-dispatch system has proven effective in safety monitoring, flood control, and ice-period water delivery.