On the east end of the largest portion of the Danjiangkou Reservoir, a bright line extends to the east and north. This canal takes water from the reservoir 1,400 kilometers to Beijing. This water will benefit over 100 million people.

Construction of this central route of the South-North Water Transfer Project began in December 2003. Beijing began receiving water from the reservoir via the canal in 2014. The entire project is the biggest interbasin transfer scheme in the world.