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Introduction

Danjiangkou Reservoir is the main source of water under MRP, controlling 60% of the total drainage area of Hanjiang River basin, from which it will provide approximately 13 billion m3 of water annually to the north China Plain and to further cities of Beijing and Tianjin.^[2] Danjiangkou Reservoir locates on Hangjiang (or Han River), and across Hubei, Henan provinces, it is multifunctional reservoir in water supply, flood control, power generation and aquaculture. Built in 1958, thus constructed in 1974, Danjiangkou Reservoir is surrounded by mountains with elevations of higher than 200 meters on its southern, western and northern side, while the eastern side (Dantang watershed) has lower elevations ranging from 175 to 195 meters above sea level.^[3]

Elevation of the Danjiangkou Dam and its effect

Due to the MRP of the SNWDP, from 2005 the project aims to heighten Danjiangkou Dam from original 162 to 176.6 meters, expands its capacity by 40 percent from 17.5 billion to 29.05 billion (33.9 billion at large^[4] ) cube meters.^[5] Until 2014 when the water level is raised, it can be transported through the canal to cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Henan.

The canal route which delivers the water to the northern cities will pass through consists of mountains, hills, mounds and plains by a floor elevation of 140 meter at the head; after crossing the Yellow River, the canal elevation is lowered to 106.5 m and finally reaches 49.1 m in Beijing.^[3]

Impact

According to the case study on the Water-technology.net website, the typical impact by the water diversion project includes the loss of antiquities, the displacement of people and the destruction of pasture land.^[6]

The elevation of Danjiangkou Dam along with canal construction brings with several environmental effect to the constructing area, where deforestation and soil erosion can be found in the north of the reservoir in Henan province and in the western part of Shaanxi province. Some even finds soil salinization caused by the rising groundwater table, slope instability of swelling clay and rock, settlement of the ground surface in the coal district, and seepage through the banks of the canal and frozen heave problems.^[3]

Drought

The annual rainfall within the area falls in July, August and September, often characterized by the flood seasons, while Danjiangkou Dam enhances the Han River flood control by its capacity. In the summer of 1998, the Hanjiang water upstream of August was reduce by Danjiangkou Reservoir by 60-93%, storing up 3.7 billion cubic meters of flood.^[7] The elevation of the Dam by MRP further expand its storage to deliver 13 billion m3 of water by 2020 with the mean annual flow of the Hanjiang in severe dry years is only 19 billion m3.^[8]

Some believe Danjiangkou Reservoir may store up the original water flow of Hanjian, which might result in ecosystem changes to the lower river. According to the Project Office under the State Council, the total surface water flow of the Hajiang upstream of the Danjiangkou dam is 38.8 billion cubic meters—around 2.3 billion cubic meters of this volume is consumed, leaving some 36.5 billion cubic meters flowing into the reservoir each year. Aside from those for local irrigation and industrial use, the water transferred from the Han River to the north ultimately will make up one-quarter of its total inflows into the Danjiangkou reservoir.^[9] In year 2009 to 2010, and the year 2011 respectively, there has been significant droughts in central China due to insufficient river flow in Hanjian, lifting the concern of the area might have no excess water that could be transferred to the thirsty North. On March 7, 2013, the Danjiangkou Reservoir water to 8.393 billion cubic meters, 499 million cubic meters less than the same period in average, less than the drought year of 2011 over the same period, 323 million cubic meters, less than normal rates were 5.6% and 3.8%.

Displacement of People

It is estimated that the expansion of the reservoir’s capacity will relocate over 330,000 people, affecting the lifestyles and social network of both migrants and local residents particularly in the Hubei and Henan provinces. It is being described as the second largest relocation in China since Three Gorges Project finished in 2006.^[10]

Announced by the official MRP corporation, the elevation of the water after heightening the dam will flood over 41 towns and cities, 471 villages, covering 307.7 square kilometers with 223,500 population, 160 industrial companies, 35 connecting bridges and 85 ports.

Started in October 2009, the families were allocated homes and farmland in newly-built villages, and annual compensation of about $88 USD, but there have been complaints that farmers are being offered less than half the land they formerly obtained, according to the official media.^[11] Also, every relocated family will receive a one-off payment, and receive the subsidies from the government for the next 20 years.^[10] Three years later, by the end of 2012, more than 345,000 people have moved into new homes, the figure exceeds the one by the officials.^[12]

Disappearance of Cultural Heritage

The Danjiangkou area, where is expected to be cleared and flooded in 2014 for the reservoir, is the birthplace of the Neolithic Yangshao culture and the ancient Chu culture.^[13] The MRP will affect many cultural relics such as the Neolithic Age ruins, graves of the Warring States Period, Shang, Han and Western Zhou Dynasties, etc. Between May 1958 and December 1959, before work began on the Danjiangkou Reservoir, China's Ministry of Culture, the Institute of Archaeology (then under the Chinese Academy of Sciences), and the Yangtze Drainage Area Planning Office jointly established the Yangtze Drainage Area Planning Office Archaeology Team. The team identified more than 100 archaeological sites in the catchment area, but was only able to excavate 23 sites and 15 graves and to move 11 above-ground heritage structures to safe ground.^[14]

In June 2003 the State Cultural Relics Bureau and the Ministry of Water Conservancy came to an agreement, after protracted discussions, on heritage work related to the MRP. In September that year an office was set up to coordinate MRP heritage work and in November the State Cultural Relics Bureau began drafting cultural heritage conservation plans for the eastern and western diversion channels.

Started from 2006, the Cultural Relics Bureau established an emergency salvage program by rescuing excavation and relocation of heritage sites in the Danjiangkou Reservoir catchment area and the eastern route. By 2012, the Henan provincial cultural relics bureau said that excavations have been carried out in 123 archeological sites covering 310,000 square meters and 35,000 items have been unearthed.^[13] The program is set to end by June 2012.

Case Studies linked to Danjiangkou Reservoir

• Water Quality Control of the South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD) Middle Route Project (MRP)

Articles linked to Danjiangkou Reservoir

1. ^ 2006-2-20. "丹江口大坝加高工程"(translated: "elevation of the Danjiangkou Dam") http://www.zxsygs.com/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=65 (in Chinese)
2. ^ Website of Office of the South-North Water Diversion Project Construction Committee, Middle Route Project: http://www.nsbd.gov.cn/zx/english/mrp.htm
3. ^ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Wang, L. and Ma, C. (1999). A study on the environmental geology of the Middle Route Project of the South-North water transfer. Engineering Geology 51 (3), pp. 153-165.
4. ^ 丹江口大坝加高工程‹(Elevation of the Danjiangkou Dam), official website of MRP corporation, 02-20-2009 availble online: http://www.zxsygs.com/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=65 (in Chinese)
5. ^ “Danjiangkou reservoir heightens its dam by 15 meters and expands 40 percent of its capacity (translated),” Changjiang Daily, 06-19-2009 (http://www.abd.cn/news/related/20090619/news28312.shtml)(in Chinese)
6. ^ case study on South-to-North Water Diversion Project, China, Water-technology.net http://www.water-technology.net/projects/south_north/ (latest access 07-30-2013)
7. ^ Z. Yang et al.(2006). Dam impacts on the Changjiang (Yangtze) River sediment discharge to the sea: The past 55 years and after the Three Gorges Dam. Water Resources Research, Vol. 43, 2006
8. ^ Chansheng He, Xiaoying He and Li Fu (2010). China's South-to-North Water Transfer Project: Is it Needed?, Geography Compass 4/9 (2010): 1312-1323
9. ^ "Water diversions and dam threatening to fragment the Han River (translated), New Century Weekly (Xinshiji zhoukan) Cover Story, Vol. 408, 07-12-2010 online version (in Chinese): http://magazine.caing.com/2010/cwcs408/ Translation in English by Probe International, Energy Probe Research Foundation: http://eprf.probeinternational.org/node/9093
10. ^ ^{10.0 10.1} Biggest relocation in China since Three Gorge, The Independent News 13-08-2010 accessed online July 2013: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/biggest-relocation-in-china-since-three-gorges-2051297.html
11. ^ China moves 330,000 in water plan, BBC News 10-10-2009 accessed online: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8314447.stm
12. ^ Danjiangkou Reservoir relocation completed in China, CCTV News, 09-17-2012 online at http://english.cntv.cn/program/newsupdate/20120917/104444.shtml
13. ^ ^{13.0 13.1} Archaeologists rush to save relics in Danjiangkou, Xinhua Agencies, 01-02-2013 http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/753331.shtml
14. ^ Taming the Floodwaters: The high heritage price of massive hydraulic project, China Heritage Newsletter: China Heritage Project, The Australian University, No. 1, March 2005. accessed online July 2013: http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/features.php?searchterm=001_water.inc&issue=001