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The central (or middle) route project began in 2003. It would transfer water from the Danjiangkou reservoir on the Han River which is a tributary of Yangtze River to areas in Hubei, Henan and Hebei provinces. The destination is the capital, Beijing.

 

According to the schemes, the total length of the main canal would be about 1246 km. The water transferred along the central route would flow northward by gravity. The central route project aims to divert 9.5 billion m3 per year for the first few years after the project is completed with diversion volumes gradually increasing to a maximum of 12-14 billion m3 by roughly 2030 (Magee). In the long run, the water resources of Danjiangkou reservoir will also be replenished from the Three Gorges Dam in the middle reach of Yangtze River. Unlike eastern route project, there is no existing channel or canal for the central route, thus the potential ecological, social and economic impacts are far greater than eastern route project. The central route project finished construction in 2014 (Baidu).