Shek Pik Reservoir () is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

Shek Pik Shek Pik () is an area located along the southwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. When the Shek Pik Reservoir was built, villages at Shek Pik were demolished and the villagers were relocated to other parts of Lantau Island and to Tsuen ...

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Built between 1957 and 1963, it has a storage capacity of 24 million cubic metres and is the third largest reservoir in Hong Kong after High Island Reservoir and

Plover Cove Reservoir Plover Cove Reservoir, located within Plover Cove Country Park, in the northeastern New Territories, is the largest reservoir (water), reservoir in Hong Kong in terms of area, and the second-largest in terms of volume. It is the world's first ...

Location

Shek Pik Reservoir is located within Lantau South Country Park. It is surrounded by the following areas: Kau Nga Ling (east), Keung Shan (west), Muk Yue Shan and Sz Tsz Tau Shan (north). The top of the main dam is part of Keung Shan Road which connects

Tai O Tai O () is a fishing town, partly located on an island of the same name, on the western side of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The village name means ''large inlet'', referring to wiktionary:outlet, outlet for the waterways (Tai O Creek and Tai ...

with

Cheung Sha Cheung Sha () is a rural area on the south coast of Lantau Island, New Territories, Hong Kong. Along the South Lantau Road, Cheung Sha is located between Tong Fuk (to the southwest) and San Shek Wan (to the northeast). The most notable feature ...

Mui Wo Mui Wo is a rural town on the eastern coast of Lantau Island in British Hong Kong, Hong Kong. The 2011 Census recorded 5,485 people living in Mui Wo and its environs. Mui Wo (English: Mui Wo), formerly known as Mei Wo or Mei Wei (Cantonese: ...

and

Tung Chung Tung Chung ( " eastern stream") is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of Tung C ...

. Below the dam is

Shek Pik Prison Shek Pik Prison () is a prison in Hong Kong, located at 47 Shek Pik Reservoir Road, Shek Pik, Lantau Island. It was built in 1984, and is managed by the Hong Kong Correctional Services. The prison is used to contain prisoners with medium to long ...

managed by the

Hong Kong Correctional Services The Correctional Services Department (CSD) is responsible for the management of prisoners and prisons in Hong Kong. The Commissioner of Correctional Services reports to the Secretary for Security. History Although the Chief Magistrate (now C ...

. A major water source for Shek Pik Reservoir is

Tung Chung River The Tung Chung River is a Rivers of Hong Kong, river on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It is designated by the Government of Hong Kong, governmental Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department as one of the "Ecologically Important Streams" withi ...

. The water, collected by tunnels, is transferred to the reservoir via an underground pipe running between

Ngong Ping Ngong Ping () is a highland in the western part of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It hosts Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha amidst the hills which is about 34 m tall. There are several hills nearby which are also an attraction to tourists. It is ...

and

Lantau Peak Lantau Peak, or Fung Wong Shan (literally " Phoenix Mountain"), is a mountain in Lantau South Country Park, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It is the second-highest peak in Hong Kong and the highest point on the island, with a height of above the ...

History

In the 1950s, water shortages affected Hong Kong. To relieve the problem the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

decided to build a reservoir in Shek Pik Heung valley () and to further develop Lantau Island. The main contractor for the reservoir scheme was Soletanche, a French company. Prior to construction there were four villages, Shek Pik Tai Tsuen (), Fan Pui Tsuen (), Kong Pui Tsuen () and Hang Tsai Tsuen (), in the valley. They were all relocated as part of the reservoir construction. A Hau Wong Temple was located there and was inundated by the Shek Pik Reservoir in 1960."Distribution of temples on Lantau Island as recorded in 1979", in ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch'', Vol. 20, 1980. p.138
/ref> In 1961, an 8-mile submarine pipeline was built to move water from the reservoir to Hong Kong Island, submerged from Silvermine Bay to Sandy Bay. Water supply started in November 1963, however there was an internal lining failure.

References

External links

Reservoirs in Hong Kong Shek Pik {{HongKong-struct-stub

Location

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links