From Henan to Beijing - turning the taps on mega water project

An estimated 300,000 people were forced to relocate because of the scheme.

The finishing touches are being put to a mega canal in central China's Henan province.
 
When the taps are turned on this year, billions of cubic metres of water will flow more than a thousand kilometres from here to Beijing.
 
This section is one of three routes of the South North Water Transfer Project, an ambitious scheme to ease the water shortage in China's north.
 
The eastern route began operating last year but water conservationist Zhang Junfeng isn't celebrating the engineering feat.
 
"I am not optimistic about the future of the project.  I am more worried about the deeper issues. Instead of easing the problem why don't we address the root of the problem?"
 
We have come to Miyun reservoir in Beijing with Zhang Junfeng to get an idea of just how dry the capital is.
 
This reservoir is an important source of drinking water for the 20 million people who live in the city.
 
It's also one of the end points of the central route.
 
The water level here is the highest it's been in 11 years. But the overall picture isn't good.

"The water level is between 25 to 30 percent. It's not a very good level. This water level is low compared to 20 years ago. It's about half of what it was two decades ago."
 
Industries, cities and farmland are competing for this scarce natural resource.
 
Water pollution is exacerbating the problem.
 
Chinese state media say the government has spent more than a billion dollars making the water cleaner - and that's just along the eastern route which has already begun.
 
The entire south north water transfer project will cost around 62 billion dollars.
 
An estimated 300 thousand people have been forced to move because of this.
 
Complaints of shoddy construction ring loud when we turn up at one resettlement village in Henan where 1800 people live.
 
40-year-old Kong Dielian is a farmer who moved here in 2011.

“All the houses here have cracks in them. Mine is considered a mild case."
 
Kong Dielian is entirely dependent on the weather gods for a good harvest because the new plot of land she's been given does not have a well. It's also smaller than what she had before.
 
"Did they promise to build a well for you before you moved?" I asked.

“Yes they promised but they didn't build one for us after we moved. We were cheated."
 
China is using a myriad of ways to ensure future water supply for its people.
 
This impressive work of engineering is a sobering reminder of how desperate things have become.