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of Hong Kong. In 1964 a fresh agreement was negotiated by which the Colony received and paid for a minimum of 15,000 million gallons of water a year brought from the East River through a series of dams, pumping stations and channels. The supply period for this water begins on the 1st October each year, which is the start of the normal dry season, and ends on 30th June, and the water is paid for at the rate of $1.06 for a thousand gallons.
152. The rainfall in the last half of 1966 was well below average and, at a meeting with representatives of the People's Council of Kwangtung Province in November of that year, the Hong Kong Govern- ment's representatives made a formal request under Clause 1.5 of the Agreement for an additional 1,800 million gallons of water during the current supply period. The Government representatives enquired whether additional water could be drawn if it should be needed in July, August and September (that is the three months not included in the normal supply period) and understood that there would be no difficulty pro- vided due notice was given. The dry spell continued into 1967 and as a precautionary measure the hours of supply within the Colony were reduced from 24 to 16 a day after the Lunar New Year, that is in February 1967. The start of the usual rainy season, in May, brought little rain and on the 1st June, when the total water in storage had dropped to 3,000 million gallons, the hours of supply were further reduced to 8 a day.
153. By the 25th of June the total supply due from China, including the additional 1,800 million gallons, had been drawn and a request for a further additional supply remained unanswered. Rainfall continued to be below average and on the 29th June the supply was reduced to four hours every other day.
154. On the 11th July, with nearly half the rainy season past, the total storage stood at 3,277 million gallons and the supply period was reduced to four hours every fourth day. Such essential users as hospitals and power stations continued to get an unlimited supply. The special needs of industry were met by a four hour daily supply, while the crowded squatter areas and resettlement estates, where there were generally less facilities for storing water, were given a supply of four hours a day and four hours on alternate days respectively. By these restrictions the daily rate of consumption in the Colony was reduced to 60 million gallons a day, that is half the daily consumption with an
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