Photo taken on Nov 17, 2014 shows the heightened Danjiangkou Reservoir Dam in Central China's Hubei province, the starting point of the middle route of South-North Water Diversion Project. [Photo/Xinhua]

China is one step closer to completing its South-North Water Diversion Project as the first stage of the middle route, a 1,277-kilometer waterway, started to supply water to Beijing on Friday, reported china.cnr.cn.

After decades of planning and construction, clear water from Danjiangkou Reservoir in Central China's Hubei province flow through Henan province and Hebei province and cross the Yellow River on the journey leading to Beijing and Tianjin.

The first stage of the middle route, started in 2003, aims to pump almost 9.5 billion cubic meters of water - one sixth the volume of Yellow River - every year to the country's parched north, including more than 20 major cities.

Beijing is among the northern cities plagued by water shortage. The capital city has per capita water resources of less then 100 cubic meters, far below the 500 cubic meters which indicates acute water shortage by international standard and even nowhere near the 387 cubic meters for Israel, a country known for its scarce water resources.

Backgrounder: The South-to-North water diversion project's middle route