ENG-1964 — Page 17

6

REVIEW

policemen stand. People retire to their own homes and to a non- stop commentary on the course of the storm on their radios and yet, in these unlikely circumstances, one has a stronger sense of involvement and sympathy than is common in this naturally self- absorbed society.

Finally, of course, the typhoons brought rain. At the end of May we had switched from every fourth day to every other day. Two weeks later we were revelling in four hours supply every day and three weeks after that eight hours. Now at last we were beginning to benefit from the new Shek Pik reservoir. Although it was opened in the previous year it had not yet held more than a fraction of the five thousand million gallons it is able to store. But now it was filling up and in August we established yet another record: more water in our reservoirs than we had ever stored before or ever could have. By the 17th Shek Pik itself was up to 60 per cent of capacity and three other reservoirs were overflowing. On 1st September we returned to the unimagined luxury of water round the clock, though with dire warnings about it being a trial period, and watching the situation carefully. But typhoon Ruby settled the matter altogether. The storage figure shot up to a dizzy 15,000 million gallons and on 11th September it was officially stated that 'all reservoirs are now full to the brim'. Only those who have gazed disconsolately at the grass growing in the bottom of empty reservoirs could know what that meant to Hong Kong and it became a regular week-end pastime to drive out to one or other of the more accessible reservoirs just to enjoy the sight of all that lovely water.

So, after all our troubles, we entered the 1964–5 dry season better off for water than ever before and with the anticipation of yet another source of water to augment our own supplies next year. This is the 15,000 million gallons a year from the East River which we are to buy at just over $1 a 1,000 gallons under an agreement signed with the People's Council of Kwangtung Province in April. The water will actually be drawn from the Shum Chun reservoir, just across the border, and work has been going on since the agree- ment was signed on the system of pumps and open waterways by which it will be brought there from the East River. In acknowledging the helpful co-operation of the Kwangtung authorities Hong Kong also recalled the facilities that had enabled us throughout the emergency to bring water by tanker from the Pearl River. Hong