South–North Water Transfer Project
The South-North Water Transfer Project (Chinese:南水北调工程) is a proposed scheme by the People's Republic of China to divert water from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River. Northern China's climate is much drier than that of Southern China, and the Yellow River carries a much lower volume of water than the Yangtze. As a result of diverting water for industrial and agricultural uses, the Yellow River has often gone dry in its lower reaches in recent decades. The water transfer scheme seeks to increase the flow of the Yellow River by diverting water north from the Yangtze. Three major locations have been proposed for the project: one in the western headwaters of the rivers where they are closest to one another, another from the upper reaches of the Han River, and a third using the route of the Grand Canal.