E.
Winning a Reservoir
from the Sea
Although it is surrounded by water, Hong Kong has no large rivers or lakes and the task of meeting the needs of its fast-growing popula-
tion and thirsty industries has been a constant prob- lem. The authorities have tackled the situation bold- ly and with imagination, striving to conserve enough water to keep supply ahead of demand. The most am- bitious scheme to date in- volves sealing and draining Plover Cove, a three-mile sea inlet in the New Terri- tories. The project_is almost complete. Thou- sands of millions of gallons of sea water have been pumped out and fresh water has begun to flow into the reservoir from a vast network of under- ground tunnels. When full, Plover Cove will hold more than 30,000 million gal lons—trebling the Colony's storage capacity.
It is inevitable that such a scheme should affect the lives of many people. But none more intimately than the 1,000 villagers whose ancestors had lived on the banks of the cove for centuries. They have all been moved to modern new flats in a nearby market town and compensated.
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