南水北调全面通水两年 惠及8700万人

Water diverted from the Yangtze River in southern China has helped ease thirst in northern China for More than 80 million people, a senior official said last Monday.

一位高级官员上周一表示，从长江调过来的水资源已经缓解中国北方超过8000万人的缺水问题。

Water transported northwards from the Yangtze in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has enabled 87 million people in Beijing, Tianjin and 33 cities in provinces including Hebei, Henan, Shandong and Jiangsu to get access to "southern water," said E Jingping, director of the Office of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Commission of the State Council.

国务院南水北调办公室主任鄂竟平介绍称，通过南水北调工程向北调引的长江水让8700万人喝上"南水"，受水区覆盖北京、天津及河北、河南、山东、江苏等省的33个地级市。

The massive project also plays an important role in ecology, combating drought, flood drainage and improving water quality in northern regions, he said.

他表示，这项浩大工程也对生态环境、抗旱排洪、改善北方水质起到了重要作用。

Last Monday marks the second anniversary of the start of water diversion through the middle route of the project, though the eastern route was put into use more than three years ago.

上周一是南水北调中线工程通水两周年，而东线已在三年多以前通水。

The project has supplied Shandong with about 1.1 billion cubic meters of water over the past three years. Beijing and Tianjin have been supplied with 1.1 billion and 910 million cubic meters of water respectively, over the past year, data from the office showed.

国务院南水北调办的数据显示，过去三年来，通过南水北调工程调入山东境内的水量约为11亿立方米；过去一年来，调入北京、天津的水量分别为11亿立方米和9.1亿立方米。

The project was officially approved by the State Council in 2002, five decades after the late Chairman Mao Zedong proposed the idea.

该项目于2002年获得国务院的正式批准，是已故的毛泽东主席在五十年前提出的想法。