Location of the East River Basin
(Click the image for a more detailed map)
Location of the East River Basin (Click the image for a more detailed map) |
East River Basin
East River (Dongjiang, see Figure) is one of the three main tributaries of Pearl River (Zhujiang), the fourth largest river in China (in terms of drainage area). The watershed area is 35,340 km2, 90% of which lies within Guangdong Province. In the year 1991, there were 7.24 million people living within the watershed.
The water resources of the Dongjiang are abundant. The annual average surface runoff in Guangdong is 29.5 billion m3. In recent decades, a series of water conservancy projects had been built within the Dongjiang watershed. The construction of several large reservoirs, the Xinfengjiang, the Fengshuba, the Baipenzhu, and the Tiantangshan reservoir, is of great importance to the flood control, power generation, irrigation, shipping, and water supply of this region.
Apart from the East River Basin itself, Dongjiang also supplies water to the adjacent area of the Huangpu region, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, 70% of the water is imported from Dongjiang, through a transboundary water supply system.
2003 Pat Yeh and Lincoln Fok