China's Move South Water North Project and NAWAPA

The sources discuss China's Move South Water North Project, a large-scale water diversion project that aims to address water shortages in northern China. The project involves diverting water from the Yangtze River in the south to the Yellow River basin in the north. The sources highlight three key routes of this project:

• The Eastern Route, completed in 2013, diverts water from the Yangtze to Tianjin through tunnels and pumping stations.
• The Central Route, completed in 2014, diverts water from the Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Han River to Beijing through tunnels.
• The Western Route, expected to be completed by 2050, will divert water from the Yangtze and its tributaries to the Yellow River through the Tibetan Plateaus.

The sources present this project as an example of "non-zero-sum thinking," which views ecosystems and economies as interconnected systems where solutions can be found by considering the needs of all parts.

The sources contrast this with the "zero-sum thinking" that they argue characterizes approaches to water management in North America. They propose that the North American Water and Power Alliance (NAWAPA), a project conceived in the 1960s, could offer a similar non-zero-sum solution to water shortages in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. You previously summarized this project as:

• A project that was conceived in the 1960s to address water shortages in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
• The project involved collecting and diverting water from rivers in Alaska and Canada to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
• The project was supported by politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties, including Robert Kennedy.
• In 1965, the NAWAPA project became federal legislation in the United States.
• Despite this, the project ultimately lost momentum and faded into obscurity during the Vietnam War.
• The project resurfaced in a 2012 film.
• The project's history was also explored in a 2012 study, which examined the role of former British Columbia Premier W.A.C. Bennett in its development.

The sources note that NAWAPA involved plans for dams, lifts, tunnels, and canals to move water from Alaska and Canada to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. While NAWAPA ultimately lost momentum, the sources suggest that it, like China's Move South Water North Project, represents a potential solution to water crises based on non-zero-sum thinking and large-scale infrastructure development.

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