Achieved the initial water supply goal! This major water conservancy project realizes the handshake between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River in Guanzhong
On July 16th, after more than a decade of hard work and tenacious struggle, the national major water conservancy project - the Han Ji Wei River Diversion Project - successfully achieved early water access, and the beautiful wish of the Han River flowing through the Qinling Mountains to moisten the land of Qinchuan became a reality.
Plan layout of the Han River to Wei River diversion project
This water supply is taken from the Sanhekou Reservoir, which has an annual water supply capacity of 500 million cubic meters from the Han Ji Wei River. It passes through the Qinling Water Transfer Tunnel and flows for 12 hours before entering the Huangchigou Water Distribution Hub. Entering the Xi'an water supply pipeline of the Heihe Jinpan Reservoir through the Heihe Water Supply Connection Tunnel, the early water supply from the Han to Wei River Diversion Project to Xi'an is achieved. The early opening of water marks the decisive success of the project of diverting water from Han to Wei, realizing the handshake between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River on the land of Guanzhong.
"The early opening of water from the Han River to the Wei River project has built a network pattern for the optimal allocation of water resources in Shaanxi, which is conducive to solving the problem of uneven distribution of water resources in time and space, significantly enhancing the regulation and supply capacity of water resources, and ensuring high-quality economic and social development." Zhang Jianmin, academician of the CAE Member, said in an interview, "To speed up the improvement of the main framework and arteries of the national water network, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages and comprehensive benefits of large-scale water conservancy projects such as the Han River to the Wei River project, ensure national water security at a higher level, and support the comprehensive construction of a socialist modern country."
Sanhekou Water Conservancy Hub
The Water Diversion Project from Han to Wei is a comprehensive, fundamental, public welfare, and strategic major water conservancy infrastructure construction project that aims to break through the bottleneck constraints of water resources in Shaanxi Province and achieve spatial balance of water resource allocation. It is an important trunk line of the "Five Verticals and Ten Horizontals" Shaanxi water network, a north-south water transmission backbone channel determined by the National Water Network Construction Plan, and also the largest and far-reaching water conservancy and people's livelihood project in Shaanxi history. The project spans the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins, diverting water from the Han River basin in southern Shaanxi to the Wei River basin in Guanzhong, solving the water needs of four key cities including Xi'an, Xianyang, Weinan, and Yangling, five new cities in Xixian New Area, 11 counties on both sides of the Wei River, including Chang'an District, Lintong District, Xingping City, and Fuping County, as well as the domestic and industrial water needs of the Weibei Industrial Park. The total area of the water receiving area is 14000 square kilometers, benefiting 14.11 million people and supporting a GDP of 1.1 trillion yuan in the water receiving area, with an additional urban water supply of 5 million people. At the same time, it can effectively change the situation of overexploitation of groundwater and encroachment on ecological water in Guanzhong, achieve a balance between groundwater extraction and replenishment, and prevent urban environmental geological disasters; The annual average water volume of the Wei River entering the Yellow River can be increased by 600 to 700 million cubic meters. Through water rights replacement, water use indicators can be provided for the national energy and chemical base in northern Shaanxi to extract water from the main stream of the Yellow River, ensuring high-quality development of the Yellow River basin. This is of great significance for building the Shaanxi water network, achieving optimized allocation of water resources throughout the province, ensuring water safety, improving the ecological environment of the Wei River, and promoting high-quality development throughout the province.
Huangchigou Water Distribution Hub
The Water Diversion Project from Han to Wei River consists of a water diversion project and a water transmission and distribution project, with a total investment of approximately 51.6 billion yuan.
The water diversion project has been included in 172 major water conservancy projects for water-saving and water supply determined by the State Council during the 13th Five Year Plan period. In July 2011, the project proposal was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission. After the initial design was approved in April 2015, the project began construction comprehensively. The construction includes the Huangjinxia Water Conservancy Hub, Sanhekou Water Conservancy Hub, and a 98.3 kilometer Qinling Water Diversion Tunnel. On July 9, 2023, the Huangjinxia Water Conservancy Hub achieved downstream water storage, and the power station pump station is currently undergoing installation and commissioning, with plans to be put into operation within the year; The Sanhekou Water Conservancy Hub achieved downstream water storage in February 2021, and the power station was put into operation in December, generating a total of 161 million kilowatt hours of electricity online; The Qinling Water Diversion Tunnel achieved safe and precise completion of the entire line on February 22, 2022. It passed the water supply stage acceptance in June 2023 and is ready for water supply.
Huangjinxia Water Conservancy Hub
The water transmission and distribution project is distributed on both sides of the Wei River, consisting of the Huangchigou water distribution hub and a 343.5 kilometer north-south trunk line. The second phase of the project started construction on June 17, 2021. The Huangchigou water distribution hub has been completed and connected to the Heihe Xi'an water supply pipeline, which has been put into use; The north-south trunk line is planned to be fully completed and put into operation by 2026. The feasibility study report of the third phase project has passed the technical review of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Water Resources, and it is planned to complete the feasibility study and preliminary design approval within this year.
In the construction of the Han to Wei River Diversion Project, Shaanxi Provincial Han to Wei River Diversion Company adheres to scientific and technological innovation, leverages the role of academician and expert workstations, national postdoctoral research workstations, Qin Chuangyuan Han to Wei River Diversion Research Center and other scientific and technological innovation platforms, focuses on "bottleneck" key technologies, collaborates with scientific research units to carry out more than 130 scientific and technological research projects, overcomes technical difficulties such as tunnel superhard rock excavation, strong rock burst prediction and prevention, ultra long distance ventilation and penetration measurement, dam concrete temperature control and crack prevention, flood warning and prediction, high head and large flow centrifugal pump selection, etc., applies for 116 patents, obtains 72 patent authorizations, 7 invention patents, 32 software copyrights, and compiles. He has authored 7 works and led the compilation of 12 various standards. He has successively won the Dayu Water Conservancy Science and Technology Progress Award, the First Prize of Science and Technology Progress of the Chinese Society of Engineering, and the First Prize of Science and Technology Progress of Shaanxi Province, effectively promoting engineering construction. Adhere to the bottom line of safety, strengthen quality control, promote standardized management of safety production, implement a lifelong responsibility system for quality, and ensure that no safety and quality accidents of general level or above have occurred. The qualification rate of unit projects is 100%, and the excellent rate remains stable at over 80%. Practice the concept of green environmental protection, strictly implement environmental and water conservation measures in accordance with the principle of "three simultaneities", strengthen full process supervision, be a good ecological guardian of the Qinling Mountains, and create ecological civilization demonstration projects. We attach great importance to the resettlement of immigrants, actively cooperate with the local government, complete the resettlement and special construction tasks with high quality according to the immigration plan, and strive to ensure that nearly 10000 immigrants can move out, stay stable, and become wealthy.
Interior view of Qinling water conveyance tunnel
