The Impact of the South-North Water Transfer Project on Poverty Reduction in the Qinba Mountain Region and Countermeasures-An Empirical Analysis Based on the DID Model

Abstract

The South-North Water Diversion project is China's largest water resource control project. The danjiang water source area of the middle route of the project alleviates the water shortage in northern China. However, Danjiang water source area is also the poverty-stricken area of Qinba Mountains in China, so there is a certain contradiction between water source protection and economic development. This paper attempts to study the impact of the South-North water Transfer project on poverty alleviation in Qinba Mountains from an empirical perspective.  This paper summarizes the middle route of South-North Water Diversion project and the poverty reduction work in Danjiang water source area by on-site investigation, and points out the significance of the project, the current situation of poverty reduction in Qinba Mountain area, the effect of poverty reduction and the constraints of poverty reduction. Then, using the empirical method, choose the dual difference model, take 2005 as the node, sort out the panel data of seven cities from 2001 to 2013, analyze the panel data as a whole and in sections respectively, and verify the impact of the project on rural economic development.  The results show that the middle route of the South-North Water Diversion project has a certain stimulating effect on economic growth and poverty reduction in the Danjiang water source region, but the impact is not significant. In terms of stages, the positive impact of the middle route project on the economic growth of the Danjiang water source area is weakening, and even hindering economic development, which has a negative impact on poverty reduction in the Qinling-Daba mountain area. According to the analysis results and the practical basis of the development of Danjiang water source region, the paper puts forward concrete and feasible suggestions to solve the contradiction between poverty reduction and water source protection in area of Qinba Mountains from the aspects of establishing multi-dimensional linkage development mechanis.