Despite a rare drought in the Pearl River Basin that lasted till early this month, the Ministry of Water Resources has managed to ensure the security of the water supply to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area via intensified efforts to divert water and build emergency sources.

The drought that intensified in the basin last year was the most severe in the region during the past six decades, Liu Zhiyu, deputy head of the ministry's information center, said at a news conference on Monday.

In the eastern part of the basin, the areas along the Dongjiang and Hanjiang rivers saw rainfall 20 to 40 percent less than normal years in 2020 and last year, he said.

Amid the drought, inflows to the two watercourses decreased by 70 percent last year compared with normal years. Key reservoirs along them only saw water storage of less than 20 percent of their capacity, he said.

The frequent salt tides during that time worsened the situation, he said. Because of the tides, water facilities in Zhuhai and Zhongshan, both in Guangdong province, sometimes failed to get any fresh water from their major water sources for days.

With limited local water resources, the Bay Area mainly depends on water from the Dongjiang and Xijiang rivers, he said. Macao, Zhuhai, Dongguan and Guangzhou rely heavily on the estuaries of the two rivers for water.

"When the Pearl River Basin was stricken by drought and salt tides simultaneously, the water intakes in the estuaries filled with salt water, sharply decreasing the chances of getting fresh water," he said.

To cope with the situation, the ministry's Pearl River Water Resources Commission and Guangdong Provincial Department of Water Resources rolled out a real-time forecast for salt concentration in the estuaries, he said. The forecasts have given water facilities every possible opportunity to be replenished with fresh water.

The two government bodies also beefed up water diversion efforts to the area via the joint operation of the reservoirs in the Pearl River Basin, he added.

Yao Wenguang, director of the ministry's department of flood and drought disaster prevention, said the ministry also stepped up measures to save water, with restrictions imposed on industries with high water consumption.

The ministry also coordinated with the Ministry of Finance to allocate a disaster relief fund of 300 million yuan ($47 million) to build emergency water sources in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, he said.

Liu Weiping, vice-minister of water resources, said the water storage situation in key reservoirs in areas stricken by the drought has improved following several rounds of rainfall this month.

"The drought in the Pearl River Basin has been essentially relieved. We have achieved a complete victory in controlling the drought and ensuring water supply," he said.