ZHENGZHOU, March 14 (Xinhua) -- About 80 million cubic meters of water from the Yellow River, China's second longest river, was diverted to a major lake in Xiongan New Area in north China's Hebei Province during the past winter.

The annual water diversion project, which ran from Nov. 29 last year to March 10, is aimed at improving the environment of Baiyangdian Lake in Xiongan and ease water shortage in the cities along the 482-km-long diversion route, according to the Henan Yellow River Bureau.

The route starts from Puyang County in Henan Province and runs through five cities in Hebei Province before reaching Baiyangdian.

The project is the first permanent water conservancy project after the establishment of the Xiongan New Area, a new economic zone about 100 km southwest of Beijing.

The project also supplied about 260 million cubic meters of water to the cities along the diversion route to improve the local environment and support agriculture and other industries, the bureau said.