A new round of upgrading has started in the Dongjiang-Shenzhen
water supply project, a major facility designed to divert clean
fresh water from Dongjiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River,
to Shenzhen City of
Guangdong Province, and eventually to Hong Kong.
Jiang Zunyu, director of water affairs bureau of Shenzhen City,
said both Shenzhen and HK would no longer suffer from water
shortages in hot summers upon completion of this round of
upgrading, the second phase construction of the Dongjiang-Shenzhen
water supply project.
Dongjiang-Shenzhen water supply project, whose construction
began in 1997, is a major water supplying facility built in the
eastern part of Shenzhen City, with exclusive investment and
management by the same city. The project is also responsible for
supplying fresh water to Hong Kong.
The first phase of the water supplying project, with an
investment of 3.8 billion yuan (about US$470 million), was
completed in 2001 and was capable of supplying 350 million cubic
meters of water a year, effectively alleviating water shortages in
Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Tasks for the second phase construction of the water supplying
project include upgrading the surface of roads connecting to the
venue for water diversion from Dongjiang River, facilitating
repairs of the water pipelines, construction of two new water pumps
and adding a 7.68-km-long new water pipeline, according to the
official.
With a budget of 550 million yuan (about US$67.82 million), the
second phase upgrading will be finished in two years and will give
to Shenzhen an additional 370 million cubic meters of water
supplying capacity, bringing the annual water supplying capacity of
the entire Dongjiang-Shenzhen water supply project to 720 million
cubic meters.
By then, the Dongjiang-Shenzhen water supply project will also
be capable of coping with exceedingly grave floods within 50 to 100
years.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2006)