Still, many Chinese scientists deem the massive waterworks to be the best fix for a looming crisis. Relentless desertification in the north is eroding biodiversity and concentrating pollutants in smaller bodies of water, curtailing supplies of potable water. China’s Ministry of Water Resources predicts that even with stepped-up conservation efforts, the annual shortfall of water for drinking and irrigation in the Yellow and Hai river basins will exceed 21 billion cubic meters by 2010. If the water-transfer project were not implemented, officials say, that deficit would swell to 32 billion cubic meters by 2030. The government estimates that 96 million Chinese, mostly in northern rural areas, now lack sufficient drinking water.