Less than a decade ago, Chen Lin spent about six hours a day tending to her vegetable garden.

She easily made about 3,000 yuan ($488) a month from the 0.3-hectare plot. She spent the rest of her time looking after her husband's parents, in their 80s, and her son, who was in high school.

But for the past few years, Chen has had to clock in more than 11 hours a day for significantly less wages. She has worked on construction sites, served in restaurants and labored in a food factory.

The changes for the 45-year-old occurred after the water level of the Danjiangkou Reservoir near her village, Caiwan, was raised to increase water supplies as part of a national water diversion project.

Chen is one of the 2,572 people from 642 families that had to move out of the dam area in 2005. Many have since found it difficult to adjust to their new homes and find suitable work.

The dam occupied Chen's vegetable plot and cut off the main source of income for her family of four. Her husband had to stop work earlier because of a waist injury.

"After we were relocated nearby, each member of the village was given only about 0.014 hectare of farmland. The land was newly reclaimed on the mountains and barren," she said.

Chen had to leave the area to look for jobs. In the past nine years, she has worked in Beijing, Zhejiang province, and Shiyan and Xiantao in Hubei province.

"I miss the days when I sold my own vegetables. I had more time to myself and I spent more of it with my family," she said.

"My son is still in college. We need at least 20,000 yuan a year for his school fees."

Losing ground

As the water level of the reservoir rises, more farmland is being submerged. That leaves thousands of farmers like Chen in a similar situation.

In 2010, a total of 182,000 people from 43,000 families had to leave the area. These included 155,600 people from rural areas. While 77,000 of those affected by the dam moved out of the area, 105,000 of them moved to higher ground near their original homes.

According to the government of Shiyan, to which Danjiangkou is subordinate, the water submerged farms and orchards covering 8,333.3 hectares, reducing the average farmland of the people in the reservoir area from about 0.07 hectare per capita to about 0.05 hectare.

The water also submerged more than 143 square kilometers in Nanyang, Henan province, forcing 162,000 people to move. The total area which the reservoir covers will reach about 1,000 square kilometers after its water level hits 170 meters.

To ensure the water quality of the Danjiangkou Reservoir, which is a source of the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the city authorities shut many factories in the area. It is also clearing fish farms in the reservoir, which is expected to put thousands of people out of work.

Under the water diversion project, one of the country's largest infrastructure plans, the water from the reservoir is scheduled to be diverted to the drier parts of the country in the north, including Beijing, on Nov 1.