JINAN - Shandong Province plans to invest 20.6 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) in the construction of the eastern route of the South-North Water Diversion Project (SNWD) over the next two years, local authorities said. The investments will fund the construction of 11 water projects along or near the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal that passes the province, according to the Shandong Administration for SNWD. The projects, expected to be completed in 2013, will bring water to drought-prone Shandong and Tianjin, a northern municipality, ensuring local demands for drinking, industrial and agricultural water. China has been working on the South-North Water Diversion Project, which consists of three routes -- eastern, middle, and western. The eastern channel will use the Grand Canal, the world`s longest artificial waterway initially built 2,500 years ago. Shandong has been building its part of the eastern route since 2002, completing investments of 12.5 billion yuan as of late September. |