GUANGZHOU: The Pearl River Water Resources Committee is considering diverting water from other parts of the country to help fight the severe drought and salt tide currently plaguing the Pearl River Delta in South China.

Wang Qiusheng, deputy director of the committee, said an emergency plan regarding water diversion had been completed and was waiting for approval from the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

According to the plan, if salt tide occurs extensively, water will be discharged from reservoirs, such as Tianshengqiao Reservoir in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, Yantan Reservoir in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Feilaixia Reservoir on the upper reaches of the Beijiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River, to dilute the salt tide in the Pearl River.

Drought in the Pearl River region, mostly in Guangdong Province, has been worsening since autumn, and as a result, this year's salt tide began 15 days earlier than last year, said Wang.

"The worst dry season in half a century appears on Xijiang, Beijiang and Dongjiang rivers, three tributaries of the Pearl River. I'm afraid the worst salt tide in the Pearl River region since 1963 might occur too," he said.

Wang warned if the current drought spell in the Pearl River region continues, the salt tide in the Pearl River estuary will go further upstream, which will in turn affect water supplies to more than 15 million people in the region.

(China Daily 12/23/2004 page3)