CONSTRUCTION has started on a new canal in Jiading District that is expected to improve the area's water quality and flood defenses, the district water authority said yesterday.

The 30-kilometer canal, which will be called the Luoyun River, will be dug along the border between Jiading and Baoshan districts.

It is part of a national water project that will link Taihu Lake with the Yangtze River through Shanghai, said Lu Wen, deputy director of the district's water authority. The Wusongjiang Project will stretch about 120 kilometers from the east side of Taihu Lake to the city's Wusongjiang River. It will then enter Yunzaobang Creek and run through the new canal to the Yangtze River.