Ecological benefit assessment of the South-North Water Transfer Project: An eastern route

The South-North Water Transfer Project in China is a massive inter-basin water transfer project and one of the country's most important projects. The project will not only solve water shortage problems, promote regional economic development and improve living conditions in northern China, but also facilitate ecological environmental restoration of the region. Water quantity and quality and the quality and level of social and economic development in the project area have been analysed in terms of observed data and relative information. By using market value and shadow engineering methods, the economic benefits of water transfer to agricultural, forest, wetland and city greenbelt ecosystems have been calculated separately for the different phases of the eastern route of the South-North Water Transfer Project. Finally, the total ecological benefits of the eastern route of the South-North Water Transport have been evaluated. The total ecological benefit of this water transfer project is estimated to be 4.919 × 1010 RMB Yuan.