Water diverted from Yangtze to Beijing not affected by ice   

官方回应南水半路被冻传言：虽有结冰无碍如期进京

(ECNS) -- Frozen water in some parts of the South-to-North Water Diversion project will not affect the scheduled arrival of clean water from the Yangtze River to Beijing on Dec 27, officials said on Sunday.

The project has made careful preparations for problems related to icing, including solutions to remove ice, an official at the Beijing Office for the South-to-North Water Diversion told the Beijing Times.

The ice layer is now about 10 centimeters thick in some parts, but the water is still running under the ice, according to the official.

However, the ice will reduce water conveyance to 60 percent, the newspaper said. 

The massive project is designed to take water from the country's longest river, the Yangtze, to feed dry areas in the north, including Beijing.

On Dec 12, clear water from the Danjiangkou Reservoir in Central China's Hubei province started flowing through Henan province and Hebei province, crossing the Yellow River on its way to Beijing and Tianjin. It is expected to arrive in the capital in about two weeks.