Xijiang River water flows to Shenzhen

A significant milestone in water resource management was reached when the Pearl River Delta Water Resources Allocation Project began transporting water from the Xijiang River on Saturday.

As a key component of the national water network, the project marks the realization of Guangdong’s initiative to divert water from the western part of the province to its eastern regions.

The project fundamentally changes Shenzhen, Nansha, and Dongguan’s reliance on a single source of water — the Dongjiang River — by providing residents with a continuous supply from the Xijiang River.

Additionally, it serves as an emergency backup water source for Hong Kong, Guangzhou’s Panyu District, and Foshan’s Shunde District.

The project also aims to restore ecological water use in the Dongjiang River basin, enhancing water and ecological safety in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Shenzhen, a major consumer of water, received the first batch of millions of cubic meters of Xijiang water, which was dispatched to the Gongming Reservoir in Guangming District on Saturday. Shenzhen residents will soon start benefiting from this new water source.

The Pearl River Delta Water Resources Allocation Project, a crucial part of Guangdong’s “five vertical and five horizontal” water resource allocation network, extends 113.2 kilometers from Liyuzhou in Shunde to the Gongming Reservoir. The project has an annual water supply capacity of 1.708 billion cubic meters, with 847 million cubic meters of that allocated to Shenzhen.

Completed ahead of schedule Jan. 30, the project has set multiple national records and world firsts. Following its completion, a series of tests and inspections were conducted to ensure the system’s safety and reliability.

An intelligent platform integrating operations monitoring, flood control dispatch, water-quality monitoring, hydrological forecasting, safety monitoring, and digital twin functionalities has been established to maintain the project’s efficiency.

Guangdong is advancing regional water resource projects, including the Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone water diversion project and the relocation of the Dongjiang water intake project.

These efforts aim to address the uneven distribution of water resources in Guangdong and ensure a stable and reliable water supply for the region’s future.