00:01In 1952, a man looked at a river and asked,
00:05could we take a bit of this water?
00:0870 years later,
00:09China spent more than 70 billions of dollars
00:12to answer this question.
00:14The result is a machine so big
00:16that it does not hold on a single card.
00:19And a person on 50 on earth
00:21buys the water every day.
00:22We call it the transfer of water
00:25from south to north.
00:26And it is, as well as it is,
00:28the biggest engineering project in history.
00:32To understand why it exists,
00:35we have a simple image.
00:36Imagine a very big country.
00:39Some regions have water,
00:41rivers, lakes,
00:42and the rain every year.
00:44Some are dry and cold,
00:46like someone who just walked a marathon
00:48without gourdes.
00:49The country decides to build
00:51immense aquatic waters,
00:53channels and conduits
00:54to transport the water
00:55from the humid areas
00:56towards the zones assoiffées,
00:57so that the inhabitants
00:58can drink,
01:00cook,
01:01and turn their houses.
01:02Well, this country,
01:04it's the China.
01:05You know,
01:06that China has a lot of inhabitants.
01:09More than 1,4 milliard
01:10to be exact.
01:12It has reached the cap
01:13of the milliard
01:14in the 1980s.
01:15And it's today
01:16the third largest country
01:17in the world
01:18by its surface.
01:19If you align with 100 people
01:21on Earth,
01:22about 18 of them
01:24are Chinese.
01:25But here's a surprising fact.
01:27In the years 1200,
01:28this number would have been
01:29to 36.
01:31The Chinese population
01:32is huge today.
01:34But at the world's scale,
01:35it has in reality
01:36diminished proportionally
01:37over the centuries.
01:39Curious,
01:39right?
01:40In fact,
01:411,4 milliard
01:42of people living
01:43who breathe
01:44and have a fever.
01:45And at the same time,
01:47it's not simple.
01:48Here's the central problem.
01:50The China represents
01:51about 20%
01:53of the world's population
01:53but only has
01:54about 7%
01:56of the planet.
01:57And the quasi-totality
01:58is located in the South.
01:59Look at a chart
02:00of the China,
02:01and you will see immediately
02:02about 80%
02:04of the country
02:05is located in the South
02:06and the South,
02:08while the North,
02:09densely populated
02:10and strongly industrialized,
02:11is still in need.
02:13It's not as extreme
02:15as a desert.
02:15It's not as extreme
02:16It's less like
02:17the Atacama
02:17and more like
02:18if all the inhabitants
02:19of the North
02:19of the China
02:20share a small bottle of water.
02:22No one in me,
02:23but it's clearly not comfortable.
02:25And it's precisely
02:26why
02:27the phenomenon
02:28of a man
02:29on the shore
02:30is becoming,
02:31five decades later,
02:32the project
02:33of the most ambitious
02:34that the world
02:35has ever known.
02:37This man,
02:38it was Mao Zedong,
02:39the founder
02:40of modern modern China.
02:41He was at the border
02:42of the Jaune
02:43in 1952
02:44and said,
02:45simply,
02:46the South has a lot
02:47of water,
02:48the North has a need.
02:49Can we do it?
02:51No one has anything
02:52built this day,
02:53but the idea
02:53has never disappeared.
02:55The work
02:56started officially
02:57in 2002
02:58and what followed
02:59has been
03:00about 137 billion dollars.
03:02The project
03:02has been
03:02replaced by hundreds of thousands
03:04of thousands of people
03:04and it's still not finished.
03:06A detail
03:07that makes the whole
03:08even more crazy.
03:09A part of the
03:10used system
03:11for this project
03:12is the Grand Canal,
03:13a navigable
03:14built in more than 1400 years.
03:17The infrastructure
03:18of the ancient world
03:19is now
03:20in service
03:21to the biggest
03:21engineering challenge
03:23of the modern world.
03:25The project
03:26is not a simple
03:27big
03:27big
03:27tall.
03:28You see
03:28three distincts
03:29each one
03:30different
03:31across a huge country.
03:34The road
03:34follows the most
03:36ancient way
03:36of the Grand Canal.
03:38The terrain
03:39is not always
03:40in the right direction.
03:41So,
03:42engineers
03:42installed
03:42stations
03:43to push
03:45the water
03:45up.
03:46Efficacy
03:47but very
03:47gourmet
03:48in energy.
03:49The central route
03:50is the most
03:51ingenious.
03:52The engineers
03:52have re-haussed
03:53the barrage
03:54of Danjianco
03:55to the river
03:55Han
03:56until the reservoir
03:57is quite high
03:58so that
03:58the water
03:59goes by gravity
04:00to around 1260 km
04:02to Pékin.
04:04There is no need
04:04to be needed
04:05for the essential
04:06of the journey.
04:07This,
04:07when we place
04:08millions of liters
04:09of liters
04:09of the water
04:10is a considerable advantage.
04:12Then,
04:12there is the route
04:13west,
04:14still largely
04:14in the state of the project.
04:16It would cross
04:16the altitudes
04:17of nearly 4 500 m
04:19through mountains
04:20that very few people
04:21out of Chine
04:22know.
04:23The most controversial
04:24and difficult
04:26of the three
04:26is the one
04:27which is accelerated
04:28right now.
04:29Let's take a moment
04:30a moment to measure
04:31the number
04:31because the numbers
04:33are really absurd.
04:35The project
04:35is about
04:3645 000
04:37milliards
04:38of liters
04:40of New York
04:42in water
04:42and in water
04:43for more
04:4430 years.
04:46The total
04:47is on around
04:494 300 km
04:50so at
04:51about
04:51the distance
04:52from the United States
04:54from the ocean
04:54to the other.
04:55The budget
04:56is up to more
04:57137 milliards
04:58of dollars
04:59in 2025.
05:01Even Jeff Bezos
05:02could technically
05:03offer
05:04four.
05:05And already,
05:06according to a study
05:07published
05:07by the Pairs
05:08published in November
05:102025,
05:11more than 150 millions
05:12of people
05:13who drink water
05:13from this project.
05:15It's about
05:161 human
05:17over 50
05:18on Earth.
05:20This leads us
05:21to the question
05:22that everyone
05:23ends up asking.
05:24Is it really
05:25potable?
05:26It depends
05:28on how you are.
05:29The water
05:30is mainly
05:30from the Yangtze
05:32in particular
05:33the reservoir
05:34of Danjianco
05:35and the central route
05:37is committed
05:37to strict
05:38control
05:38of pollution
05:39on his journey.
05:41The most difficult
05:43of this project
05:43was never simply
05:45to move
05:45the water.
05:46It was to move
05:47properly.
05:48In the big cities
05:49like Pékin,
05:50yes,
05:50we can drink
05:51and drink
05:52the water.
05:52Since the project
05:53started to deliver,
05:54the water
05:55of Pékin
05:56has become more
05:57sweet and better
05:58of the taste.
05:59Those who found
06:00the water
06:00covered in their
06:01are now
06:02well.
06:04In other places
06:05it's probably correct
06:06also.
06:07But many people
06:08still buy
06:09the water
06:09in a bottle
06:10like you
06:12don't drink
06:13even if it's proper.
06:15And directly
06:16from the canal
06:16absolutely
06:17not.
06:18This water
06:19has not yet been
06:21But it's
06:22that it's complicated.
06:23This project
06:24is a huge exercise
06:25of balance
06:26and everyone
06:27does not win.
06:28The water
06:28of the water
06:29lose
06:29by the evaporation.
06:31The stations
06:32of pump
06:32need
06:33an alimentation
06:34and constant
06:35of the water.
06:36It means
06:37less energy
06:38in the source rivers
06:40perturbant
06:40the stable ecosystems
06:41for hundreds of years.
06:43The environmental groups
06:45have documented
06:45the intrusion
06:46saline,
06:47the transfer of
06:48pollinants
06:48and ecological
06:50along several routes.
06:53This same
06:54study
06:54of November
06:552025
06:56has confirmed
06:57the risks
06:58persistently
06:58for the biodiversity
07:00quality of the water
07:00and the ecosystems
07:01in aval
07:02with a long-term
07:04tableau
07:04really uncertain.
07:06And then
07:07there are
07:08people.
07:09330.000 people
07:10have been
07:23by their families
07:23for generations.
07:25Even
07:25the buildings
07:25debout
07:26from the dynasty
07:27Ming,
07:27all have been
07:28submerged.
07:29A lot of
07:29people have then
07:30posted
07:31a petition
07:32the loss
07:32of their land.
07:37Some affirm
07:39that the randomization
07:41has never happened
07:42entirely,
07:43discreetly
07:44on the road.
07:45And this is only
07:46the current project.
07:47the
07:48reservoir
07:48of
07:48Danyangco,
07:49which
07:49aliment
07:50the whole
07:50central route
07:51des populations
07:52depuis
07:53sa construction
07:53initiale
07:54des décennies
07:55plus tôt.
07:56Additionner
07:57le tout
07:57et le nombre
07:58réel
07:58de personnes
07:58déplacées
07:59pour rendre
08:00cette machine
08:00possible
08:01est bien
08:01plus élevé
08:02et n'a jamais
08:03vraiment été estimé.
08:04Alors,
08:05qu'en pensez-vous ?
08:06La Chine
08:07avait un vrai problème.
08:0920%
08:09de la population
08:10mondiale,
08:117% de l'eau douce
08:12de la planète
08:13et presque rien
08:14au bon endroit.
08:15Un homme a posé
08:16une question
08:17en 1952.
08:18Il a fallu
08:19un demi-siècle
08:20pour commencer
08:21à y répondre
08:21et deux décennies
08:23de travaux supplémentaires
08:24et ce n'est pas fini
08:25pour en arriver là.
08:27Le projet
08:27de transfert d'eau
08:28du sud vers le nord
08:29est un exploit
08:30d'ingénierie
08:31extraordinaire.
08:32Mais c'est aussi
08:33un exercice de compromis
08:35sur lesquels
08:35personne ne s'accorde
08:36pleinement.
08:38Sécurité hydrique
08:39contre dommages
08:39environnementaux.
08:41Développement national
08:42contre la vie
08:43de millions
08:43de déplacés.
08:44Les besoins
08:45d'aujourd'hui
08:46contre les inconnus
08:47de demain.
08:48Un humain
08:49sur 50 sur Terre
08:50en boit l'eau
08:51aujourd'hui.
08:52Le dernier chapitre
08:53à travers le plateau
08:54tibétain
08:55n'est pas encore achevé.
08:56Alors,
08:57la machine continue
08:58de se construire.
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