中国水资源地区分布不均匀。总体来讲，南方水资源丰富，北方则水资源匮乏。随着人口的增长和经济的快速发展，北方缺水的问题日益严重，解决办法之一就是跨流域(drainage area)调水，也就是南水北调工程(South-to-North Water Diversion Project)。南水北调工程包括东、中、西三条线路。东线从长江下游引水，沿京杭大运河(Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal)北送，穿过黄河下的管道，向下流入天津附近的水库(reservoir)。中线从长江的支流汉江的丹江口水库引水到北京。西线也被称作“大西线”，目的在于从长江上游引水到黄河上游。

　　参考译文

　　In China water resources are unevenly distributed.In general, water resources are abundant in the south but deficient in the north.With the increase of population and rapid economic development, the problem of water shortage in the north is getting more and more serious.One solution is to divert water from one drainage area to another, also known as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.There are three routes.The eastern route will transfer water from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to north along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and through a tunnel under the Yellow River, from where it can flow downhill to reservoirs near Tianjin.The central route is from Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Han river, a branch of the Yangtze River, to Beijing.The western route, also called the Big Western Line, aims at diverting water from the headwaters of the Yangtze River into the headwaters of the Yellow River.

　　翻译讲解

　　1.分布不均:可译为be unevenly distributed。

　　2.水资源丰富:可译为water resources are abundant。

　　3.匮乏:可译为deficient,意为“不足的，缺乏的”。

　　4.跨流域调水:可译为divert water from one drainage area to another。

　　5.下游:可译为lower reaches。

　　6.大西线:可照字面直译the Big Western Line。