Shing Mun River

Shing Mun River, or Shing Mun River Channel, is a river in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China.

History

The original Shing Mun River began at Needle Hill, and flowed into the former Tide Cove (Sha Tin Hoi), a shallow bay. In the 1970s, Tide Cove was drained and turned to Sha Tin New Town. The river was extended through a 7 km long, 200 m wide artificial channel in the middle of the area to flow into Tolo Harbour. Other rivers that had originally flowed into Tide Cove are now tributaries of Shing Mun River or one of its nullahs.

The Shing Mun River channel runs from the Tai Wai area, through the Sha Tin town centre to the Tolo Harbour. It has three main tributaries, namely Tai Wai Nullah, Fo Tan Nullah and Siu Lek Yuen Nullah. Along the Shing Mun River are high-rise residential, commercial and industrial buildings with numerous village type developments scattered around. Several bridges were built to connect the two sides of the Shing Mun River.

Pollution problem

The Shing Mun River had once been heavily polluted from the indiscriminate discharges from livestock, industrial, commercial and domestic sources. The total organic pollution load from these discharges amount to a population equivalent of 160,000 in the 1980s. At that time, hardly any living creatures were found in the river.

The water quality of Shing Mun River has improved from bad to good in terms of the Water Quality Index since 1993. Lifeforms including fish and invertebrates have also reappeared in the river.

An artificial river bank was built along a 250-metre section near Man Lai Court, where there are relatively severe sediment accumulations and odour problems.

Current usage

Although the river is primarily designed for the drainage of storm water from Sha Tin with a catchment area of 37 km², it is also a popular place for recreational users such as rowers, anglers, riverside walkers and cyclists.

Shing Mun River is a popular place for water sports, such as: rowing, canoeing, kayaking and dragon boat racing. There are two boathouses in the river, located at Yuen Wo Road and Shek Mun respectively. The river has a standard of 2000 metres long for regattas.

External links

* [http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/news_events/current_issue/shingmunriver.html EPD - Shing Mun River Improvements]