After decades of industrialisation and urbanisation in the Pearl River Delta, the Dongjiang now serves more than 40 million people, including 7.4 million in Hong Kong, putting a strain on the river as the main water supply for the whole region.
Over the next three years, Hong Kong is expected to pay more than HK$14.4 billion to Guangdong under the new “DongShen Agreement”, which stipulates that the unit price of Dongjiang water will rise by 0.3 per cent a year, according to documents submitted by the Development Bureau to the legislature.
The rate of overall water losses in Hong Kong increased to 33 per cent in 2015 from 26.5 per cent in 2010.
This is considerably higher than in other developed cities: Tokyo successfully reduced its leakage rate to 2.7 per cent by 2010, from 20 per cent in 1955.
Although leaks from Hong Kong’s government water mains had decreased to 15 per cent in 2015 from 20 per cent in 2010, water losses from private pipes have surged sixfold, to 14 per cent, over the same period.
The government should introduce a policy that makes such data publicly available to help identify the heaviest users.
To ensure an abundant supply of water in the years to come, Hong Kong needs a comprehensive policy to strengthen its water management.
Accelerating pipe repair in public and private systems to reduce water waste.
Practising greater data transparency and improving measurement to increase accountability.
Freshwater makes up only about 2 per cent of the world’s water and Hong Kong must do more to protect this scarce resource, especially when the world braces itself for future uncertainties brought on by climate change.