26
REVIEW
belief is quite erroneous, for apart from a few brief periods of particularly acute shortage when indigenous supplies had to be augmented by water brought in by sea from the West River or from ports on the China coast, it was not until 1960 that arrange- ments were made to pipe water across the border on a regular basis. Even now the quantity obtained in this way will be a small fraction of the total annual consumption. In January 1960 came the first semi-official intimation that the Chinese authorities were prepared to supply water from a reservoir under construction near Sham Chun about two miles beyond the border, and His Excellency the Governor responded to this approach in his budget address to the Legislature Council by saying: 'We are anxious to obtain additional supplies of water as soon as possible, and I very much hope, therefore, that we can come to an arrangement with the Chinese authorities whereby supplies from this source can be made available to Hong Kong'. Afterwards delegations from Hong Kong and from Po On County held a series of meetings to discuss arrangements for a supply and to draw up an agreement, and there were numerous supplementary meetings and consulta- tions_on technical aspects between Chinese and British engineers. Under the agreement signed at Sham Chun on 15th November 1960 the Chinese authorities will supply about 5,000 million gallons of water a year, the greater part being drawn during the dry season when it is most needed. The Waterworks division of the Public Works Department has built a pumping station near the border and laid ten miles of 48-inch steel pipeline to a catchwater about a mile from Sek Kong which conveys the water to Tai Lam reservoir. After preliminary survey and engineering work in February and March, work began on laying the pipeline in the last week of May and ended in little over four months-a con- siderable achievement in the rainy season when the paddy fields were flooded and continual pumping was necessary wherever the trench for the pipes ran more than a few inches below ground level. Work continued 24 hours a day on each of three sections at once. Negotiations for the surrender of village land were suc- cessful, although there were no fewer than 304 landowners; and where possible the alignment of the pipe suited the preference and convenience of the villagers.