The Ministry of Water Resources announced on the 25th that the emergency dispatch of "pressing salt and supplementing light" in the the Pearl River from 2023 to 2024 will be launched to ensure the safety of water supply in important cities in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area this winter and next spring. Starting from 20:00 on the same day, the first "salt pressing and desalination" scheduling will be implemented, with a scheduling period of 10 days. The drought report released by the Ministry of Water Resources stated that since December 2023, the rainfall in the Xijiang and Beijiang river basins has decreased by 10% to 40% compared to the same period in normal years, and the inflow of water from the main stream has decreased by 20% to 30% compared to the same period in normal years. It is predicted that there will be no obvious rainfall process in the the Pearl River basin from now to New Year's Day 2024. The water from the West River and the North River will continue to dry up, and the upstream impact of the salt tide will intensify. From 2023 to 2024, the the Pearl River will conduct water regulation in dry season to build "three lines of defense" for local, near and far water supply. The main measures for the first "saltwater replenishment and desalination" scheduling include: seizing the opportunity to store and replenish water in local reservoirs, accurately grasping the window period of local reservoirs such as Zhuhai and Zhongshan, striving to extract fresh water, adopting temporary water diversion and lifting measures according to the situation, and supplementing as many water sources as possible that meet water quality requirements; The water pressure of the Jindi Reservoir is saline, and the "second line of defense" of Xijiang Datangxia, Changzhou Water Conservancy Hub, and Beijiang Feilaixia Reservoir are adjusted to increase the outflow flow, hedge the saltwater tide at the mouth of the river, and create favorable conditions for the "first line of defense" to store and dilute water; The Yuandi Reservoir continues to replenish water, dispatching backbone reservoirs such as Longtan and Yantan in the upper reaches of the Xijiang River as the "third line of defense" to replenish water downstream, continuously increasing the runoff of the main stream of the Xijiang River, and balancing the needs of power generation, navigation, and ecological water use. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Water Resources said that, through the implementation of this "salt filling and fresh water supplement" regulation, the runoff of the lower reaches of the Xijiang River and the Beijiang River will continue to increase. The flow of Wuzhou Hydrological Station in the Xijiang River and Shijiao Hydrological Station in the Beijiang River will reach 2000 cubic meters per second and 350 cubic meters per second respectively on December 26, and will last for about 4 days, which can effectively suppress the salt tide in the the Pearl River estuary and create favorable conditions for the urban and rural water intakes along the line to extract fresh water. (Lai Xin She)