Water is the source of life and an important foundation for national development. China's water resources are abundant, but unevenly distributed. In order to solve the problem of water shortage in some regions, China has built the world's largest inter-basin water transfer project, the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, over the course of decades. However, although the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has benefited hundreds of millions of people in the eastern and central regions, it has not been able to effectively solve the problem of water shortage in the western region.
The situation of water resources in the western region is very grim, which not only affects the local ecological environment and economic and social development, but also threatens the security and stability of the country. In an effort to change this, China proposed an even more ambitious and innovative project a few years ago – the Tianhe Project. So, what is the Tianhe Project, and what are its characteristics and advantages?
What is the Tianhe Project?
The Tianhe Project refers to a trans-regional water diversion model based on atmospheric space. It uses meteorological satellites to monitor the distribution and transport pattern of water vapor in the atmosphere, and realizes the redistribution of atmospheric and surface water resources between different regions through manual intervention. The core of the Tianhe project is to use water vapor resources in the air, rather than water resources on the ground, so it does not need to build traditional water conservancy facilities such as reservoirs, canals, pumps, etc., and will not destroy the natural ecology of the surface, but through artificial rainfall, artificial snow enhancement and other methods, water vapor will be converted into precipitation, so as to increase the water resources reserves in the target area.
The Tianhe Project is another innovative water conservancy project proposed by China on the basis of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, and it is also the world's first water diversion project using aerial water resources.
What are the characteristics and advantages of Tianhe Project?
Technologically advanced. The Tianhe Project is a high-tech project, which relies on advanced meteorological satellites, artificial rainfall technology, big data analysis and other technical means to achieve accurate monitoring, effective regulation and efficient utilization of aerial water resources. The technical difficulty and innovation of the Tianhe project far exceed that of traditional water conservancy projects, and also provide a new research field and development direction for meteorological science and water resources management in China.
Low cost. The cost of the Tianhe project mainly lies in the development and launch of meteorological satellites and the implementation of artificial rainfall. Compared with the huge investment in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the cost of the Tianhe project is much lower. It is reported that the total investment of the Tianhe project is expected to be 250 billion yuan, and the total investment of the south-to-north water diversion project has exceeded 500 billion yuan. The cost-benefit ratio of the Tianhe project is much higher than that of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.
The results are remarkable. The goal of the Tianhe Project is to divert a large amount of water vapor from the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and other rivers to the northwest region, and solve the local water shortage problem through artificial rainfall. According to expert calculations, once the water vapor diversion is successful, then the rainfall in the western region will increase by about 4 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to the capacity of 300 West Lakes. Such a amount of water is enough to improve the water resources in the western region and provide strong support for the local ecological environment and economic and social development.
The impact is widespread. The impact of the Tianhe project is not limited to the western region, but also involves all parts of the country. Through the Tianhe project, the optimal allocation of water resources can be realized, the differences between water resources in the north and south and east and west can be balanced, the contradiction between supply and demand of water resources can be alleviated, and the utilization efficiency of water resources can be improved. At the same time, the Tianhe project can also play a positive role in climate change, disaster prevention, agricultural production, tourism, etc., and contribute to the sustainable development of the country and the happy life of the people.
What kind of changes and impacts will the Tianhe project bring to China?
The Tianhe Project will bring significant improvements to the ecological environment in the western region, increase local water reserves, improve local climatic conditions, promote local vegetation restoration, improve local biodiversity, reduce local natural disasters such as sandstorms and droughts, and protect local ecosystems and ecological security.
The Tianhe project will bring a strong impetus to the economic and social development of the western region, increase the supply of local water resources, meet the needs of local industrial, agricultural and domestic water, promote the process of local industrialization, modernization and urbanization, improve the local economic growth rate, increase local financial revenue, and improve local people's livelihood.
The Tianhe project will bring favorable guarantees to China's national security and international status, enhance China's water resources control capacity, reduce China's dependence on external water resources, improve China's water self-sufficiency rate, enhance China's water resources strategic reserves, and enhance China's water resources strategic advantages.
epilogue
The Tianhe Project is another feat of China's water resources management, which embodies China's scientific and technological prowess, innovative spirit, and development vision. The Tianhe project will not only provide an effective solution to the problem of water shortage in the western region, but will also bring great benefits and impacts to the optimal allocation of water resources, the improvement of the ecological environment, the economic and social development, and the enhancement of national security and international status throughout the country.