◎ Our reporter Zhang Jiaxing

"In the 1990s, I was worried about whether China could complete such a major project as the South to North Water Transfer Project." On September 12, Assit Bisvas, co-founder of the International Water Resources Society and the World Water Council, said frankly at the National Water Network and the South to North Water Transfer High Quality Development Forum held during the 18th World Water Resources Conference, "Now, as an engineer, I applaud the achievements of the South to North Water Diversion Project. Facts have proved that China is in the forefront of the world in terms of technical level and innovation ability of water conservancy projects as it was two thousand years ago."

"The construction of the South to North Water Transfer Project has overcome a series of world-class technical difficulties, such as low lift and large flow pump stations, super large aqueducts, large diameter water tunnels, the combination of new and old concrete, and the construction of expansive soil, and has created a number of world firsts." Jiang Xuguang, chairman of the China South to North Water Transfer Group, said that up to now, the first phase of the East Middle Line has transferred more than 65 billion cubic meters of water, Water supply to several important cities, such as "South Water" has accounted for 75% of the water supply in Beijing urban area and 99% of the water supply in Tianjin urban area.

So, will 65 billion cubic meters of water be enough? Can the South to North Water Transfer Project be "replicated" in other regions? Can the problem of water use in water shortage areas in the west be solved through water diversion?

China still needs to further optimize water resources

Some people believe that the total water consumption in China has declined slowly in recent years, indicating that China has seen a "turning point" in water use, which means that under the current water supply capacity, the northern region of China has reached a relative balance between water supply and demand.

In response to the above views, Zhang Jianyun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Ministry of Water Resources Research Center for Climate Change, said that this judgment ignored many factors that caused the slow decline of total water use, such as the data deviation caused by the statistical correction of the water conservancy census.

"At present, China's water use efficiency has been effectively improved, but the water demand has not been really met." Zhang Jianyun said that with the growth of China's economic and social scale, such as the increase of urbanization rate, the increase of living consumption demand, and the expansion of production scale, the water demand will also grow with it.

This is evidenced by the peak water consumption nodes in major developed countries. The data shows that only when the proportion of the primary industry is less than 5%, the proportion of the secondary industry is 30% - 40%, and the proportion of the tertiary industry is more than 60%, will the "inflection point" of the total water use appear.

"At present, the proportion of China's primary and secondary industries is still relatively large, and the proportion of the tertiary industry is only 52.8%, which has not reached the peak stage." Zhang Jianyun said that China still has a large room for improvement in terms of urbanization rate and per capita GDP, which requires further optimization of water resources to ensure the economic development of different regions.

The South to North Water Transfer Project will inject "living water" into the economic development of western China

At present, the South to North Water Diversion Project has solved the water source problem of more than 40 large and medium-sized cities, more than 280 counties and urban areas, and has become the lifeline for optimizing the allocation of water resources, ensuring the safety of drinking water for the masses, reviving the ecological environment of rivers and lakes, and unblocking the economic cycle from north to south. Where will this vital lifeline extend?

Jiang Xuguang introduced that the follow-up project of the South to North Water Transfer Project will accurately grasp the respective characteristics of the east line, the middle line and the west line, and carry out construction in stages. The eastern line implements "one trunk line and multiple branches expanding", and actively promotes the project establishment and construction of the second phase project; At present, the urgent task of the middle line is to "divert water from the river to reinforce the Han people". It is necessary to plan and build well the regulation and storage projects along the line; The west line is currently in the preparation stage of planning demonstration and feasibility study report.

"The water transfer project in the west has extremely obvious layout advantages due to its high altitude, large water volume and wide range." Wang Hao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that the western route water transfer project should implement an active water resource layout to support the economic development of Chengdu Plain, Hexi Corridor and the Yellow River Basin.

"In recent years, the western economy has developed somewhat, but there is still a big gap with the eastern economy. To develop the western economy, the premise is to build a 'water network economic pattern'. Wang Hao suggested that the economic belt along the Yellow River should be enabled through the planning of the western route of the South to North Water Transfer Project, and the southwest and northwest water networks should be built to connect the economic belt, so as to inject" live water "into the economic development of the western region.

The South to North Water Transfer Project has overcome a large number of world problems, and there will be more problems to be solved in the follow-up projects, especially in the western route project that challenges high altitude areas. Jiang Xuguang said that China South to North Water Transfer Group will take the major water conservancy projects as the lead, accelerate the high-end, intelligent, green and integrated development, and promote the construction of follow-up projects of South to North Water Transfer through scientific research innovation, model innovation and other high standards and high quality.

(Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, September 12)

Concerned public account: People's Daily Finance

Share to let more people see