“Thirsty?” a worker called out, wiping sweat from his brow. “Just wait until the Shenzhen Reservoir is finished!” It’s hard to imagine, looking at the vast expanse of the Shenzhen Reservoir today, that it was once a valley bustling with villages. In 1959, amidst the backdrop of the Great Leap Forward and a national focus on water conservation, a monumental task began: the construction of the Shenzhen Reservoir. Intended to irrigate farmland, generate electricity, and supply the local Po On district, the reservoir also held a promise for Hong Kong. The British colony, grappling with water shortages, watched the project unfold with a mixture of hope and political apprehension.
The Shenzhen Reservoir, a massive undertaking, was designed to hold 45.77 million cubic meters of water, twice the capacity of Hong Kong’s largest reservoir at the time. Over 10,000 migrant workers, armed with basic tools, toiled tirelessly. The dam, a 30-meter high and almost 1000-meter long earthen structure, took shape between two hillsides, incorporating a spillway to prevent overflow. The workforce swelled to 40,000 as the deadline loomed: completion before the 1960 rainy season. Stories emerged from the site, like that of Zhang Jingai, one of the “flying girls,” whose empty carts, lighter than their operators, would literally fly down the dam’s slopes.
Remarkably, the dam, later dubbed the “100 days dam,” was finished two months ahead of schedule. However, the spillway remained incomplete. When Typhoon Mary struck in June 1960, filling the reservoir overnight, the rising water threatened the dam. A potential disaster was averted as the storm subsided. Meanwhile, securing the 800 tons of steel required for the 3.8km pipeline to the Hong Kong border proved a challenge in itself. In Hong Kong, a parallel effort was underway. An 18 million dollar project was launched to build a pumping station and a 16km pipeline connecting the reservoir to the existing water system.
Finally, on November 15, 1960, an agreement was signed. It stipulated the supply of 5,000 million gallons of water annually to Hong Kong, at a fixed price, provided rainfall was sufficient. This marked the beginning of a complex relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China, intertwined with the story of the Shenzhen Reservoir. The reservoir not only provided a vital resource but also served as a testament to human endeavor, political maneuvering, and the ever-present need for water.