54
uneven distribution of water, IBTs are regaining popularity (WWF Global
Freshwater Programme 2007 ). However, many of the IBTs either planned or under
construction are too big and complex to imagine their consequences, and they may
distort the economic, social and environmental conditions of entire countries and
regions. Donor and recipient systems will be affected alike.
The South-North Project in China, the Indian Rivers Linking Project, the Transaqua
Project in Africa, the Sibaral Project in Central Asia and many more projects are at
various stages of development and implementation. Projects that are in a very preliminary stage of planning may rapidly emerge and gain wide support when political and
social circumstances change, or when major disasters occur (Table 4.2 ).
With the objective to provide water for more than 500 million people, the
South- North IBT in China is one of the largest water engineering projects already
under construction (Berkoff 2003 ). By 2050, about 45 × 10
9 m
3 water per year will
be diverted through three branches from the Yangtze basin to northern and western China. The estimated costs are about USD 60 billion. The 1,264 km long
Central Route was opened in 2014. 330,000 people were resettled. Moreover,
plans exist for a much larger transfer project, namely to divert up to 200 × 10
9 m
3
water from the major rivers in SW China, including the upper sections of the
Mekong, Brahmaputra and Salween Rivers, to the water-thirsty regions in northern and eastern China. This project is actually on halt because of the transboundary nature of the affected river basins.
The Indian Rivers Linking Project (ILR) might become the largest water infrastructure project ever undertaken globally (Shah et al. 2008 ; Bagla 2014 ). It is planned to
build 30 links and about 300 reservoirs and to connect 37 Himalayan and Peninsular
rivers to form a gigantic water grid system on the Indian subcontinent. The canals are
50–100 m wide and 6 m deep to allow navigation. In total, 178 × 10
9 m
3 water per year
will be redistributed. For comparison, the annual discharge of the Rhine River at its
mouth is 75 × 10
9 m
3
. The total length of the planned canal network is 15,000 km, 30
million ha of newly irrigated area are expected to be created, and 35 GW hydropower
should be produced (although a signifi cant proportion of the energy will be required
for the transfer of the water). The costs at this stage can only be estimated to amount
three times the total costs of China’s South-North water-transfer scheme.
Transaqua , the largest water infrastructure project planned in Africa, is intended
to divert 100 × 10
9 m
3 (in average 3,200 m
3 /s) from the Congo Basin, through a
2,400 km navigable canal, to the Chari River and fi nally to Lake Chad. It is intended
to stabilise the lake area at about 7,500 km
2 and create large irrigation areas north of
the lake. Planning dates back to the late 1970s. Actually, the project re-emerges to
the surface. The estimated costs are USD 23 billion. An alternative and much
smaller option, the Obangi Water-Transfer Project, is expected to transfer 320 m
3 /s
to Lake Tschad (Freeman and DeToy 2014 ). Up to now, no feasibility study has
been carried out. However, there exists hope that the Chinese, within the frame of
their Silk Road Fund, may invest into this project.
The almost complete drying of the Aral Sea is one of the largest global environmental disasters. Ideas to divert water from Siberia to Central Asia already emerged
during the Tzarist period in the late nineteenth century. The concrete planning of the
K. Tockner et al.
uneven distribution of water, IBTs are regaining popularity (WWF Global
Freshwater Programme 2007 ). However, many of the IBTs either planned or under
construction are too big and complex to imagine their consequences, and they may
distort the economic, social and environmental conditions of entire countries and
regions. Donor and recipient systems will be affected alike.
The South-North Project in China, the Indian Rivers Linking Project, the Transaqua
Project in Africa, the Sibaral Project in Central Asia and many more projects are at
various stages of development and implementation. Projects that are in a very preliminary stage of planning may rapidly emerge and gain wide support when political and
social circumstances change, or when major disasters occur (Table 4.2 ).
With the objective to provide water for more than 500 million people, the
South- North IBT in China is one of the largest water engineering projects already
under construction (Berkoff 2003 ). By 2050, about 45 × 10
9 m
3 water per year will
be diverted through three branches from the Yangtze basin to northern and western China. The estimated costs are about USD 60 billion. The 1,264 km long
Central Route was opened in 2014. 330,000 people were resettled. Moreover,
plans exist for a much larger transfer project, namely to divert up to 200 × 10
9 m
3
water from the major rivers in SW China, including the upper sections of the
Mekong, Brahmaputra and Salween Rivers, to the water-thirsty regions in northern and eastern China. This project is actually on halt because of the transboundary nature of the affected river basins.
The Indian Rivers Linking Project (ILR) might become the largest water infrastructure project ever undertaken globally (Shah et al. 2008 ; Bagla 2014 ). It is planned to
build 30 links and about 300 reservoirs and to connect 37 Himalayan and Peninsular
rivers to form a gigantic water grid system on the Indian subcontinent. The canals are
50–100 m wide and 6 m deep to allow navigation. In total, 178 × 10
9 m
3 water per year
will be redistributed. For comparison, the annual discharge of the Rhine River at its
mouth is 75 × 10
9 m
3
. The total length of the planned canal network is 15,000 km, 30
million ha of newly irrigated area are expected to be created, and 35 GW hydropower
should be produced (although a signifi cant proportion of the energy will be required
for the transfer of the water). The costs at this stage can only be estimated to amount
three times the total costs of China’s South-North water-transfer scheme.
Transaqua , the largest water infrastructure project planned in Africa, is intended
to divert 100 × 10
9 m
3 (in average 3,200 m
3 /s) from the Congo Basin, through a
2,400 km navigable canal, to the Chari River and fi nally to Lake Chad. It is intended
to stabilise the lake area at about 7,500 km
2 and create large irrigation areas north of
the lake. Planning dates back to the late 1970s. Actually, the project re-emerges to
the surface. The estimated costs are USD 23 billion. An alternative and much
smaller option, the Obangi Water-Transfer Project, is expected to transfer 320 m
3 /s
to Lake Tschad (Freeman and DeToy 2014 ). Up to now, no feasibility study has
been carried out. However, there exists hope that the Chinese, within the frame of
their Silk Road Fund, may invest into this project.
The almost complete drying of the Aral Sea is one of the largest global environmental disasters. Ideas to divert water from Siberia to Central Asia already emerged
during the Tzarist period in the late nineteenth century. The concrete planning of the
K. Tockner et al.