Ice not blocking canal water: water diversion authorities

The canal runs through a city in Central China's Henan province.[Photo/Xinhua]

The South-North Water Diversion Project authority refuted the rumor that water from the South will not flow to Beijing as scheduled because it has frozen, reported Beijing Times on Sunday.

As climate varies along the canal, which stretches 1,432 kilometers from the south to the north, the section north of Anyang in Central China's Henan province may freeze in the winter, according to the authority.

It is estimated that the rate of flow of the canal drops by 40 percent due to ice at the surface, but this does not affect the flow of water under the surface.

To deal with the threat posed by ice, de-icing equipment and measures were used to remove ice in a timely manner so as not to impede the flow.

Water released from Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Yangtze River ten days ago is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Dec 27 after traversing the three provinces of Hubei, Henan, and Hebei, said an insider from the authority.