South China's Guangdong Province is considering building large reservoirs along the Pearl River that has been hit by repeated rounds of salt tides since the beginning of this year.

"The reservoirs are set to conserve water during rainfall seasons and then supply water to those areas hit by drought, a cause of salt tide inflows," Monday's China Daily quoted a local water supply company official as saying.

Due to decreasing rainfall in recent years in the Pearl River area, the estuary of the river has fallen victim to worsening salt tides, which gravely affected supplies of drinking water in densely populated Pearl River Delta region, including Hong Kong and Macao.

A latest round of salt tide, which began in mid-February, led to the salinity at Xiaoying Watergate in the estuary hitting 5,500 milligrammes per litre, a record high since last year, the paper said.

The lower reaches of the Xijiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River, is also an area seriously hit by recent salt sides, which made Macao, relying on the river for water supply, suffer high salinity levels during the winter season, it said.

The construction of large reservoirs along the Pearl River estuary and water diversion should be given priority, according to the paper, quoting a member of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, the local legislature.

Besides water diversion from other non-affected areas by salt tides and construction of reservoirs, efficient water use management is also important to contain the effects of salt tide, the paper added.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2006)