Beijing to receive 900 cubic meters of water from Yangtze River in 2017

A man-made watercourse at Tuancheng Lake in Beijing as first flow from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project reaches China's capital. [File photo: Xinhua]

Beijing expects to receive 911 million cubic meters of water from the Yangtze River between Nov. 2016 and Oct. 2017, local authorities said on Tuesday.

The south-to-north water diversion project has already pumped 260 million cubic meters of water into Beijing since last November, according to the capital's office for the project.

Since the project began pumping water in December 2014. Beijing has received more than 2 billion cubic meters of water from the Yangtze, and 1.6 billion cubic meters of water from nearby Hebei Province, according to Sun Guosheng, head of the office.

More than 11 million residents, or about half of Beijing's population, have directly benefitted.

Recent data showed the water table in Beijing had risen 0.42 meters from a year ago, thanks to a daily water flow of 3.4 million cubic meters from the project.

The city will construct more facilities including pipelines and reservoirs, according to Sun.

The project was conceived by Mao Zedong in 1952. The State Council approved the project in December 2002 after nearly half a century of debate.