V. World's largest scope of benefited areas
The South-to-North Water Diversion Project targets water shortage problems in China's northern areas, in particular the drainage basins of the Yellow River, the Huaihe River, and the Haihe River[]. The total area of diverted water supply is 1.45 million square kilometers, equal to 15 percent of China's land area. The first phase sub-projects of the eastern and central routes have created approximately 180,000 jobs annually. The completion of the project will highly improve the water resources and drive the socio-economic development, thus creating more jobs while producing benefits for agriculture, flood control, shipping, stagnant water drainage, and ecological protection. Adjusted for inflation, the project is estimated to generate an annual economic benefit worth 53.3 billion yuan.
The central route stretches through Zhengzhou city, Henan province.