Left high and dry

Lyu Chengrui had to move his home three times due to the rising water levels for the water diversion project. HOU LIQIANG / CHINA DAILY

The annual output value of the fishery industry in Danjiangkou reaches 650 million yuan, Zhang said.

Zhao Zhirong is still adapting to life in her new home years after moving from her hometown. HOU LIQIANG / CHINA DAILY Challenging new environment It has been almost four years since Zhao Zhirong moved from her home in Sunjiawan village of Liuliping township in Danjiangkou to a suburb of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. But the 44-year-old is still not used to life in her new home. In the first two years after her family moved on Oct 24, 2010, she would return to her hometown and stay for two or three months only after 15 days in her new home. "I cannot tell exactly what I was not used to then. But I just couldn't bear to stay in the new place for long," she said. Zhao stopped making trips to her hometown in the second half of 2012, as she had to take care of her son who was in junior high school then. She worked as an accountant for more than 12 years before moving but found it hard to find a suitable job in Wuhan. "I want to continue to work as an accountant, but companies here only hire accountants with a college or higher education, " she said. She then started working part time in an office in the village under the postal service but makes only 600 yuan ($97) a month. To make more money to support the family, Zhao started to help a local company pack party items. The work is easy but monotonous, Zhao said. She packs about 1,000 bags a day but can make only 40 yuan from that. "I could make about 4,000 yuan a month when I worked as an accountant," she said. "It's easy to find jobs here in factories. But you have to work the night shift or work more than 10 hours during the day. I couldn't get used to that." Zhao's husband used to work as a driver to help car dealerships deliver cars to customers. He has been jobless since he moved to their new home. Zhao said it took her husband up to 10 days to send a batch of cars to their buyers and he could help some people transport goods on his return trips. "He could sometimes make about 10,000 yuan in one trip," she said. She is now considering working as a cook for a factory. "I will only have to work about five hours a day cooking lunch and supper and I will be able to continue my part-time work for the post office," Zhao said. "I can make no more than 1,500 yuan a month from the cooking job. I want to take it as I want to increase my income." Hou Liqiang and Liu Kun in Wuhan

Lyu Chengrui has been running a fish farm in Danjiangkou Reservoir for almost 20 years. The 50-year-old moved to higher ground from a village in 2010.

The water of the reservoir will rise from its original 157 meters to 170 meters, submerging the third house of Lyu, which was used to raise fish.

Lyu said he could make about 100,000 yuan a year from farming fish. After moving, Lyu's family was allocated 0.28 hectares of farmland. Like Chen's, the land was reclaimed on the mountain and not fertile.

"We can usually make about 4,000 yuan from the farmland. I have been thinking about turning back to farming to make a living. But it's hard to make a living from such a small plot of farmland," he said.

According to the Shiyan government, authorities have shut 435 factories and moved 125 others to guarantee the quality of the water source. That has resulted in 60,000 people becoming unemployed.

The statement also said that electric energy production will decrease as the main function of the reservoir will be changed to store water for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

The authorities estimated that the implementation of the project will result in a direct economic loss of 829 million yuan to the annual fiscal revenue of the city. The city also has to invest 1.5 billion yuan annually for ecological protection and water pollution control.

Zhang, the mayor, said the local authorities also have to spend 1.743 billion yuan to treat water from five rivers connected to the reservoir to ensure that its water meets national standards.

Uncertain future

Lyu Chengrui's younger son, Lyu Feng, joined him in 2012 to work on his fish farm. The young man returned from Shenzhen with plans to start a business raising cattle.

Grassland stretches along the shore of the reservoir, and some peninsulas and islands created by the reservoir offer good pasture to raise cattle, the 24-year-old said.

But the younger Lyu has not carried out his plan yet as he heard that large-scale rearing of livestock will also be banned to protect the water quality.

Lyu said the life of the local people has improved a lot thanks to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

"Wide and flat roads were built and people have moved into spacious and bright houses. The construction of the project has created a lot of job opportunities for the local people," Lyu Feng said.

"There were no roads suitable even for motorcycles in my former village and we had to walk to get out," he said. "I'd never want to go back there."

He said the real estate industry is booming and restaurants have been doing a lot more business than before as people have received a lot of compensation from the government for farmland, orchards and houses submerged. Many people go to mahjong rooms to gamble as well, he said.

"It seems prosperous, but it's fake," Lyu Feng said.

"After the projects are built, many job opportunities will be gone. They have barely any farmland to make a living. What are they going to do after they run out of money?" he asked.

The Shiyan city government said in a statement that it will organize cooking, hairdressing and machine repair training sessions for relocated residents. At least one member of every family affected should take part in the training.

"The employment of the residents mainly depends on the market," the statement said.

Some township governments have tried to build greenhouses for the villagers to increase their income.

In Waduangang village of Liupo township, Yunxian county, every villager has been allocated a greenhouse of about 0.03 hectares.

Villager Wang Cunyu said her family could make about 20,000 yuan from the greenhouses allocated to them.

But Zhang, the mayor, conceded that a lot of work needs to be done and the local government has been under great financial pressure.

He also voiced concern over the residents' long-term employment.

"Many factories were submerged, how will the unemployed make a living?" he asked.

Contact the writers at houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn and liukun@chinadaily.com.cn