The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation's top political advisory body, is one of the major driving forces behind the South-to-North Water Diversion project.

In 1998, the National Committee of the CPPCC, which convenes for its annual session on March 3, instigated research on the sustainability of water resources. It found that to ease the shortages in the north, water could be diverted from the south.

Following an economic and environmental assessment of what would later become the central and eastern routes of the massive project two years later, members concluded: "The nation cannot afford to put off the project any longer."