(7713) Wt. 40552/714 50m 2/48 C.N.Ld. 748
C. O.
Mr. Wallace 20/5/49.
Mr. Sidebotham....23/5/49.
Mr.
Paskni
Mr.
Mr.
2.4/5
53687/49
Permt. U.S. of S.
Parly. U.S. S.
Minister of State
Secretary of State
Ans'd. (1)
For Mr. Sidebotham's signature
Your Reference.....
DRAFT. LETTER
4
42
SIR ALEXANDER GRANTHAM, K.C.M.G.
FURTHER ACTION.
I know you appreciate that Ministers are
much concerned about the possibility of Chinese Communist action against Hong Kong, and it is
in this connection that I have been asked to get
some information about water supplies in an
emergency.
2. It appears from such information as we
have, e.g. your despatches on the Tai Lam Chung
project, that the Island at present draws 40;;
of its water supply from the New Territories by pipe-line under the harbour, the other 60 coming
from its own catchment areas; Kowloon gets the
whole of its supply from the New Territories.
It would also seem that, while present supplies
of water are inadequate for all the purposes
for which water is required, they are not inadequate for drinking purposes only either for
the Colony as a whole or for the Island alone if
it were deprived of its resources on the mainland. (Kowloon would, however, presumably be without
water if supplies from the reservoirs in the New Territories were not available).
3.
I should be very grateful to know
correctly
Whether the above summarises the position and,
/in particular