The statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are repeated at the end of this article
According to a staggering set of data released in 2022, northern China has 95% of the country's groundwater reserves! In the south, only 5%
This set of data almost upends people's perception that there is much more water in the north than in the south? So, in this case, is there still a need for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project? Or should it be the other way around, changing it to "diversion of water from the north to the south"?
01
South-to-North Water Diversion
As far back as 1952, the country's leadership came up with a far-reaching idea of whether the north-south water diversion could be "aimed at channeling the abundant water resources of the south to the arid and water-scarce lands of the north, thereby alleviating the water stress in the north."
In this way, several generations of water conservancy people started carpet exploration, and they braved the scorching heat and lack of oxygen to go deep into the most barren corners of the country.
Some people explore among the mountains and mountains, some people swim upstream in the turbulent rivers, measuring and recording every inch of valuable data, and the processes covered with ice, snow and thorns have become the cornerstone of the project.
In the autumn of 1958, more than 100,000 porters sweated and waved their poles at the Danjiangkou Reservoir construction site.
Sixteen years later, the Danjiangkou Reservoir, with its 162-meter-high dam, was finally completed and became the source of water transfer.
In the 21st century, the route map of the Central Route Project is impressive: 600 rivers, 200 channels, and 30 railway crossings must be conquered one by one.
The bigger challenge is to raise the water level of the reservoir by 13 meters and use the height difference to flow northward, while the eastern route project will also transport the water of the Yangtze River to the Jiaodong Peninsula and Tianjin with the help of 160 pumps.
Once the construction of the western route project under construction is successful, the land of North China, with a population of more than 700 million, will be nourished, and this water conservancy battle will surely sprinkle joy in every corner of the long-awaited corner.
This is not only a thrilling feat of "fighting water," but also a spiritual portrayal of the Chinese nation's pursuit of its dreams in the new century; after more than half a century, China has finally gained the strength to carry out large-scale cross-basin water transfer, marking that a nation is striding forward on the level to which it aspires.
When the lives of hundreds of millions of people will be fundamentally changed, the yearning for a better life will also accompany this warm water to re-march, the pulse of the future has begun, and the spirit of the new era is on the way, calling us to appreciate the moving story of the Chinese nation's desire for a better life.
In fact, the significance of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is not only to solve the shortage of water resources, it embodies the wisdom and hard work of several generations of Chinese, witnesses the journey of a nation's self-improvement and self-transcendence, from the initial idea to the long survey, and finally to the start of construction, every step condenses the dreams and efforts of countless people.
Why is such a great feat said to be unnecessary? Is the gap between the North and the South really that big?
02
Should "water be diverted from the north to the south"?
According to a 2022 report, the northern part of the continent has 95% of the country's groundwater reserves.
This astonishing statistic immediately aroused some doubts, and some people said that there was no longer a need for the north-to-north water diversion project, and that the implementation of the "north-to-south water diversion project" should be stopped or even reversed.
Obviously, these doubts and suggestions are superficial, ignoring the starting point and original intention of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, and we cannot deny the full significance and role of a systems project based on a single set of data.
The direct cause of the start of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is to alleviate the problem of ground subsidence caused by over-exploitation of groundwater in the northern region.
At that time, large pits with a diameter of several meters could be seen everywhere on the northern plains, and all the houses and factories were swallowed up, and the situation was very serious, and if this situation was allowed to continue, the ecological environment in the northern region would accelerate its deterioration, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
Therefore, this magnificent strategic project was proposed, the purpose of which is to regulate the rational allocation of water resources in the whole country and fundamentally solve the problem of water shortage and over-exploitation of groundwater in the north.
The purpose of the Eastern Route Project is to prevent possible flooding, so many storage lakes and regulating reservoirs have been built along the route.
The Central Route is the main force of the entire South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which requires hundreds of mountains to cross countless rivers and irrigation canals to allow water to flow naturally over the North China Plain.
The purpose of the western route is to provide sufficient water sources for the arid Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningbo and other regions, and to vigorously develop agriculture and animal husbandry.
It can be said that the South-to-North Water Diversion Project was not a simple "water diversion" project from the beginning, but a comprehensive national strategy aimed at optimizing the allocation of water resources across the country and solving a series of problems such as drought, floods, and the ecological environment.
Its planning and construction embodies the painstaking efforts and wisdom of several generations of Chinese, and has witnessed the process of a great nation that has made unremitting efforts to improve itself and overcome difficulties.
It is precisely because of this that this project has been highly recognized and emotionally recognized by the people of the whole country, and even after several generations of efforts, it has never been regarded as a simple "engineering project", but has become an indispensable and important pillar of the motherland.
Now, it would be too one-sided and simplistic to deny all this on the basis of a single set of data, and to hastily stop or even reverse the implementation of the South-to-North Water Diversion.
If the water diversion is stopped immediately, the underground "reservoirs" in the northern region will soon be overdrawn again, and the ecological environment will deteriorate again.
Groundwater resources are inherently dynamic ecosystems, and if they are extracted and left unregulated, sooner or later they will be overdrawn.
Over the years, it is the South-to-North Water Diversion Project that has continuously injected "living water" into the north that has brought this land back to life and allowed groundwater resources to be gradually restored.
In addition to ground subsidence, it is more from the pollution of the water resources underneath.
03
Groundwater contamination
Water is the lifeblood of human survival and development, but in the distant past, our ancestors were more worried about the ravages of floods. The myth of Noah's Ark and Dayu's water control tells the story of the arduous process of fighting with nature, when the population was sparse and the demand was limited, and the water resources hidden in the ground were still a treasure trove that no one cared about.
With the passage of time, the level of human productivity has increased, and the demand for water has also increased, and they have begun to drill wells in the plain basins to extract those hidden water resources.
Some have sufficient water to meet the needs of several generations; Some of the reserves were limited and would soon be depleted, and at that time, human drilling technology was outdated, and the depth of 50 meters was the limit, and there was no way to start the reservoirs that were buried deep underneath.
The Industrial Revolution has brought about the continuous emergence of new technologies, and the excavation of 10,000-meter-deep mines has been carried out one after another, and various underground resources have finally appeared.
But with new things often comes new threats, and in industrial systems, water is not only a food solution, but also a lifeline for a wide range of areas, with a surge in extraction and consumption without a sense of regulation and environmental awareness.
Thousands of tonnes of sewage are being discharged indiscriminately, ignoring ecological safety and injecting industrial wastewater. What's even more terrifying is that due to the long-term closure of groundwater, the metabolism is extremely slow.
Once polluted, it is difficult to regain the clarity of hundreds of millions of years, and during this period, human beings are afraid that they have already lost nothing in suffering.
Later, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project solved this problem, so people should not only think about the problem from the surface of things, but also think about the many truths behind this matter.
Resources:
[1] Chinese government website: On January 22, 2021, the national groundwater storage assessment was completed for the first time