Drainage Services Department - Sustainability Report 2017-18 - Executive Summary

River Revitalisation for the Good of Water

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"Laozi" said: "The highest goodness is like water. Water benefits all things without struggle.” Water, nourishing all things, is an indispensable element of life; water, being non-competitive in nature, embodies the quality of versatility that allow it to adapt to variety of environments. Aspiring to emulate water in recent years, DSD has been actively developing new ideas, optimising our works in flood prevention and sewage treatment to enhance the quality of life of the public and adopting different innovative technologies to follow the nature and integrate the drainage facilities into the community. When designing river channels, we promote the concept of revitalisation of water bodies to make good use of water’s character.

Hong Kong is on the common track of tropical cyclones. It is one of the cities with the highest rainfall in the Asia Pacific region with an average annual rainfall of about 2,400 millimetres. Under this climatic setting, Hong Kong always experienced substantial flooding in the past. Since the establishment of DSD in 1989, it has been striving to prevent flooding by adopting a three-pronged approach: stormwater interception, flood storage, and drainage improvement, which are proven effective in mitigating the impact of rainstorm and flooding hazards, resulting in reducing the number of flooding blackspots in the city from 90 in 1995 to 7 in 2017.

River Revitalisation Elements

River sections are now undergoing detailed planning that ties in with their unique features, aiming to ensure full integration of drainage facilities with other land uses and strengthen community connectivity. This multi-purpose land use concept can create a better living environment. The examples below outline the concepts, designs and effectiveness of our river revitalisation initiatives.

Ho Chung River and Upper Lam Tsuen River Improvement Works

In Lam Tsuen River, for example, plants that flourished on the gabion banks and natural riverbed have sustained both the original water quality and biodiversity of the water body. After completion of the Upper Lam Tsuen River Improvement Works, ecology professionals appointed by DSD conducted four years of ecological monitoring. In 2017, the study found that the numbers of bird, fish and dragonfly species were restored to pre-construction levels. In particular, the population of one rare species in Lam Tsuen River ― Hong Kong Newt ― exceeds the previous level from just over 200 recorded by pre-construction baseline monitoring to more than 600 recently. All these encouraging results stand witness to the project team’s stellar performance in nature conservation.

Kai Tak River Improvement Works

Construction works commenced in stages from October 2011 and are expected to be completed in 2018. The approved project estimate for the improvement works is about $2.8 billion.

Kai Tak River (Wong Tai Sin Section) before and after the improvement works

DSD also seized the opportunity to improve the scenery of the local urban setting and provide leisure place for the public to enhance overall living environment of the area. To this end, greening and ecological elements were included in the Kai Tak River Improvement Works to revitalise this water body into an urban green river corridor that links the river closely with the local neighbourhood. After revitalising the Kai Tak River, we often see birds and fishes on the riverside.

In addition to integrating the river revitalisation concept into the existing drainage projects, DSD will continue to include water body revitalisation elements in New Development Area drainage plans to create better living environments for the community. Revitalised urban channels and nullahs can create more public space where people can enjoy the waterfront and engage in water-friendly activities such as walking, jogging and cycling.

 

[Full Report] [Traditional Chinese Version] [Simplified Chinese Version] [Graphical Version] [Sitemap]

Home | Director's Statement | About this Report | River Revitalisation for the Good of Water | Highlights of the Year | Governance Approach | Our Core Responsibilities | Environmental Management | Caring for Our Staff | Media Engagement Activities | Stakeholder Engagement Activities |

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