Shenzhen will build a new reservoir, the Gongming Reservoir, with a capacity of 130 million cubic meters of water, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported Thursday.

Construction on the 700-million-yuan (US$87.5 million) reservoir will begin next year and is expected to be finished in three years. It will be the largest of its kind in the city.

The new reservoir will be built by combining four present reservoirs into one. It will be located in Gongming and Guangming subdistricts in Bao’an, which has seen a water shortage in recent years.

The city has 196 reservoirs and the Tiegang Reservoir is the largest at present, with a capacity of 49 million cubic meters of water.

The new reservoir would not only ease the water shortage in Bao’an, but also become an important water source for the whole city, the water resources department said.

(Shenzhen Daily April 14, 2006)