HONG KONG: Authorities of drought-stricken Guangdong province have declined Hong Kong's offer to draw less water from Dongjiang - at least for now, said a top official of the city.

The remark was made by Director of Water Supplies Ma Lee-tak when he returned from a three-day trip to three Guangdong reservoirs and the Taiyuan Pumping Station.

"We expressed to them that we can readily reduce our intake of water if needed. But they don't think it's necessary at the moment," said Ma.

But he said the situation will remain under review.

Ma said Hong Kong takes up to 820 million cubic meters of fresh water from Dongjiang - or East River - a year, accounting for just 3 percent of the river's average annual flow volume of 26 billion to 30 billion cubic meters.

In a dry season, the city takes about 2 million cubic meters of water from Dongjiang a day, but can get by with 500,000 cubic meters less - a reduction of 25 percent - in a bid to ease the threatened crisis brought on by the drought in southern China, said Ma.

He cited figures from Guangdong authorities saying that the rainfall within the Dongjiang areas this year is about 1,255 millimeters, which is 26 percent below average.

This has resulted in a 25 percent drop in water stored in the Xinfengjiang, Fengshuba and Baipenzhu reservoirs in Guangdong - to about 7 billion cubic meters, Ma said.

He said the drought-stricken areas are not close to Dongjiang and the supply of drinking water is overall sufficient so far. But farmland is being badly hit, he said.

Despite stable water supplies from the mainland, Hong Kong authorities are gearing up for saving water.

Ma said about 1,200 water-saving devices have been installed at government buildings since late last year.

Some 21,800 more will be fitted at government blocks and at about 300 schools by the end of next year, he said.

In September, the Water Supplies Department kicked off a voluntary labeling scheme on water-saving devices.

Twelve models of showerheads are being tested for certification, said Ma.

The scheme will later be extended to water taps, washing machines and toilets.

With a 10 percent drop in the city's rainfall so far compared with the average rainfall recorded over the past decades, its reservoirs still store about 480 million cubic meters of water.

Currently, about 70 to 80 per cent of Hong Kong's fresh water comes from Dongjiang.

In 2009-10, the government is expected to pay HK$2.9 billion for Dongjiang water.

The persistent drought in Guangdong has left about 325,000 people with a dwindling supply of drinking water and 2.16 million acres of parched farmland, said Guangdong's meteorology authorities.

(HK Edition 11/12/2009 page1)