A shortage of water resources is a major challenge in many parts of the world today. In addition, climate change is leading to the increasing occurrence of extreme weather, including long-lasting droughts and heavy rainstorms. Recently, both California in the United States and Taiwan had to implement water rationing due to droughts. In Hong Kong, it was only last week that we finally received some heavy rainfall after a relatively dry first five months, and many reservoirs in the territory have a low level of water storage. Furthermore, the Hong Kong Observatory has forecast that total rainfall in the territory will be relatively low this year.
In Hong Kong we are used to a seemingly never-ending supply of water. It is therefore hard to imagine that we once suffered from a lack of water resources, especially in the years after World War II. Water rationing was commonplace here in those days, and the situation was particularly dire between 1963 and 1964 when water was only available for four hours every four days. At that time, the business environment in Hong Kong deteriorated due to the shortage of water. To save water, some restaurants gave customers three “water coupons” each, which limited them to three hot water refills. Cafes no longer served tea for free, and some cloth-dyeing factories suspended operation due to the lack of fresh water to wash their products. Water rationing brought great inconvenience to the general public in their daily lives which, I am sure, our older generation can still remember.
To provide a long-term solution to the water shortage in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Government went through several rounds of discussions with the Guangdong Provincial Government and reached an agreement on the supply of Dongjiang water in 1964. After that, works commenced for the Dongjiang-Shenzhen Water Supply System, which involved the transfer of fresh water more than 80 kilometres from Dongjiang to the Shenzhen Reservoir using the natural channel of the Shima River against its normal direction of flow. From Shenzhen the water is then transferred to Hong Kong through water pipes. The works were monumental given the circumstances in the Mainland at that time. To support Hong Kong, the Guangdong Provincial Government mobilised tens of thousands of workers and completed the works in about a year. On March 1, 1965, Dongjiang water started to flow into Hong Kong, resolving our water shortage. This water supply has played an instrumental role in our social and economic development as well as improving our livelihood. Today, Dongjiang water accounts for some 70 to 80 per cent of the annual fresh water consumption in Hong Kong, and provides a reliable source of supply.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong. On May 28, the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Hong Kong Government will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dongjiang water supply to Hong Kong and a water supply agreement for 2015 to 2017 will be signed here. The Water Supplies Department will also organise roving exhibitions in various districts, which will allow the community to revisit important events in Hong Kong’s water supply history.
Recently, some people raised questions on the arrangements for the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong and made comparisons with other places. For example, they said that Singapore bought raw water from Malaysia at a lower price. However, the water supply agreement between Singapore and Malaysia was signed in 1962 for a period of 99 years. During this period, apart from paying a fixed price for the water to Malaysia, Singapore has to make rental payments to Malaysia for the land occupied by the raw water pumping facilities, and sell some of the treated water to Malaysia at a relatively low price. As such, we should not make over-simplified comparisons between the two water supply arrangements of Singapore and Hong Kong.
In addition, some also suggested that with regard to the purchase of Dongjiang water, Hong Kong should adopt the “payment on actual supply quantity” approach instead of the “package deal lump sum” approach which has been in place since 2006. Having taken into account climate change and the risks of drought in recent years, we believe that the “package deal lump sum” approach is a more prudent and secure water supply arrangement. As Hong Kong and Guangdong Province are in the same climate zone, when a drought hits Hong Kong, it will reduce not only the yield of water locally, but also the amount of Dongjiang water available for distribution in Guangdong Province. Given that other cities “upstream” that rely on Dongjiang water will also suffer from a water shortage, the Guangdong side would then have difficulty in guaranteeing Hong Kong’s supply if we adopt the “payment on actual supply quantity” approach. In fact, you may still remember that when severe droughts hit an extensive area of Guangdong Province in 2009, Hong Kong was still able to enjoy a secure supply of water resources thanks to its water supply agreement. The water supply ceiling under the “package deal lump sum” approach is determined after detailed analyses, with a view to maintaining a round-the-clock water supply even under extreme drought conditions, such as those that might be experienced in a return period of one in 100 years. In fact, the actual amount of Dongjiang water supplied to Hong Kong over the past decade amounts to over 85 per cent of the ceiling figure, and it almost reached the ceiling in 2011. Therefore, a more prudent and secure water supply ceiling will help safeguard Hong Kong’s effective operation as an international financial centre, and minimise the likelihood of a water shortage for all of us.
Given the shortage of water resources around the world, Hong Kong, of course, should play its part in developing and utilising water resources effectively, and should not rely so heavily on Dongjiang water forever. To that end, we are developing the technology of seawater desalination and water reclamation, with a view to supplying potable desalinated water to part of the community by 2020, and reclaimed water to the north-eastern part of the New Territories for non-potable uses by 2022. In parallel, we have to step up our efforts in promoting water conservation, as there is still room for improvement in terms of average consumption in Hong Kong as compared with other advanced cities. On the 50th anniversary of the supply of Dongjiang to Hong Kong, let’s revisit the history of our water supply and think about the further development of Hong Kong’s water resources.
24 May, 2015
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