The construction of a project linking China's two mega water projects started Thursday, a new move to further transfer water to the country's dry north and improve its national water network.
The project serves as a link between the Three Gorges project and the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.
The new project will channel water from the Three Gorges Reservoir area to the Hanjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.
It's scheduled to be completed in nine years. Once completed, it is expected to increase the amount of water diverted from the middle route of the water diversion project to north China.
The middle route begins at the Danjiangkou Reservoir along the Hanjiang River in central China, and runs northeastward to Beijing and Tianjin.