The first phase of the eastern route of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project has benefited more than 68 million people in the eastern province Shandong in its decade-long operation, said the China South-to-North Water Diversion Co., Ltd. on Wednesday.

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project has three routes, and the eastern route transfers water from eastern Jiangsu Province to regions including Shandong, Hebei, and Tianjin, said the company.

The middle route, which began supplying water in December 2014, is the most prominent one. It starts at the Danjiangkou Reservoir in central China's Hubei Province and runs across Henan and Hebei before reaching Beijing and Tianjin. The western route is still in the planning stage.

'Spatial balance' project

With a length of 1,467 kilometers, the first phase of the eastern route of the water project transfers water from the Yangtze River to Shandong, utilizing canals and pump stations.

It has transferred 6.14 billion cubic meters of water to Shandong since it began supplying water in November 2013, said the company.

Based on the concept of "spatial balance," the project has built a water network with optimized allocation and joint dispatch of waters from Yangtze River, Huaihe River, Yellow River and local waters.

Yuan Qitian, deputy director of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Management Department of the Ministry of Water Resources, told China Media Group (CMG) that "the first phase of the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has optimized the allocation pattern of water resources to ensure the safety of drinking water for the public."

The project further improved Jiangsu's water network system and initially formed water grid layout in Shandong, reviving the ecological environment of rivers and lakes and smoothing the North-South economic circulation, said the deputy director.

(With input from Xinhua)