China didn’t have enough water – so it tried to build a $62 billion river

China’s north has long struggled with droughts, water shortages and desertification, while the country’s southern regions hold most of its freshwater resources. To solve the problem, Beijing launched one of the most ambitious engineering projects in human history – a gigantic network of canals, tunnels and artificial waterways designed to move billions of cubic meters of water across the country every year. But while the South-North Water Transfer Project may help sustain major cities, industries and farmland, it also comes with enormous environmental, economic and geopolitical risks. From displaced populations and drying rivers to ecological damage and rising tensions with India over the Brahmaputra River, this massive megaproject may become either one of China’s greatest engineering triumphs… or one of its biggest long-term disasters.