The Grand Canal connecting Beijing in northern China with Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in the south, again has water flowing through all of its 1,789 kilometers, for the first time in about a century, thanks to a water replenishment project.

On April 28, with dams opened to allow supply waters to flow into the Grand Canal in Shandong province and Tianjin, water again filled all sections of the 2,500-year-old artificial waterway.

Starting on April 14 and estimated to end at the end of May, the water replenishment project aims to supply 515 million cubic meters of water to the northern part of the Grand Canal－which runs for distance of 707 km through Beijing and Tianjin, as well as Hebei and Shandong provinces, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

The source water mainly comes from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, recycled water and water from rains and floods.

As of April 27, the project had supplied 264 million cu m of water to the canal, 51 percent of the total planned amount, according to the ministry.

The Grand Canal, the world's longest artificial waterway and a UNESCO World Heritage site, flows through the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Hebei, as well as Tianjin and Beijing.

It is about 16 times the size of the Suez Canal in Egypt and 33 times longer than the Panama Canal, the world's second- and third-largest canals.

The canal is a "living heritage" with multiple functions such as flood control, water supply, inland navigation, ecological landscape and tourism. In history, it was once China's most important channel for grain transportation from the prosperous southern region to the north.

However, due to historical evolution, climate change and human activities, some sections of the canal's northern part dried up. In recent years, the northern section still suffered from water shortages and pollution, according to the ministry.

Du Bingzhao, deputy director of the ministry's water resources management department, told People's Daily that the water-supply project will improve the water resources of the Grand Canal, rejuvenate the canal and accumulate experiences in achieving the goal of replenishing the waterway's dried-out sections throughout the year.

The project could also help reduce the use of local underground water for irrigation and help restore the water table.