![]() ![]() ‘In the present project, the team that I lead is seeking to use the South-North Water Diversion Project as a vehicle through which to approach those general concerns.’ ‘I seek to integrate hydrological scientific studies with social scientific studies to attain an interdisciplinary understanding of the issues that water management has to solve, the means that are brought to seek solutions, and the consequences that follow from those means,’ says Dr Webber. These studies are part of a broader research effort aimed at better understanding the goals of the project, its associated governance strategies, and the ways in which it changed the distribution of water, money, pollution, and people across China. Over the past few years, Dr Webber and his colleagues have carried out many field-based studies exploring different aspects of the SNWTP. ![]() His findings offer valuable insight that could guide the decisions of governments that are investing in large-scale water transfer projects. In collaboration with colleagues in Australia and China, Dr Michael Webber has been conducting research to fill this gap, by exploring the socio-political and hydrological motives, processes, and consequences of the SNWTP. So far, however, most studies related to the SNWTP primarily focused on the project’s environmental impact, engineering underpinnings, and financial aspects. Given its magnitude, the SNWTP is an ideal case to study the possible consequences and challenges associated with large basin water transfer efforts. ![]() The project relies on an extensive infrastructure network that connects four major river basins in China, spanning six provinces and three megacities inhabited by a total of 700 million people. One renowned water management strategy entails the transfer of water from one river basin to another, to shift water from where it is abundant to where it is scarce.Ĭhina’s South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) is one of the world’s largest inter-basin water transfer efforts, with the capacity to transfer 25 billion cubic metres of water over distances of 1,400 kilometres every year. In these uncertain times, research evaluating water management strategies is of utmost importance, as it could inform political decisions and help to ensure that more people have access to clean water. ![]() Over the next few decades, access to clean water could thus become scarce or unpredictable in many parts of the world. His research aims to gain valuable insights about the politics of vast technologies, and how inter-basin water schemes might be managed.Ĭhina’s South-North Water Transfer ProjectĪs the climate crisis causes extreme changes in rainfall patterns, floods, and droughts, it introduces new challenges for the management water resources. Dr Michael J Webber of the University of Melbourne and his colleagues have been exploring the benefits and challenges of the SNWTP, to assess its socio-political, environmental, and economic impacts. The South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP), an inter-basin water transfer effort in China, can transfer 25 billion cubic metres of water per year over long distances. Transferring water from one river basin to another is supposed to help us better manage our planet’s water resources. ![]()
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