The total investment for the project is estimated at 2.5 billion yuan (US$301 million), of which, US$150 million (about 18 million yuan) will be provided by the World Bank.

The project is aimed to save water for agricultural use to irrigate a large track of diversiform-leaved poplar, which is withering as a result of a lack of water.

At present, farmers in Wensu county, which lies on the river's upper reaches, are repairing a 40-km-long canal to prevent seepage.

Neighboring Awat County has invested 58 million yuan (US$6.99 million) to renovate a leaking 33-km-long irrigation canal. Upon completion, 60 million cubic meters of water will be saved annually.

The 1,321-kilometer Tarim River runs west to east along the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, the biggest moving desert in the country, and flows into the Taitema Lake in Xinjiang.

Due to the sharp increase in water use on the upper and middle reaches, the river has become shorter and shorter. At present, 320 kilometers of the river below the Daxihaizi Reservoir, the current end of the river, have dried up.

(Xinhua 11/17/2000)