Club advocates environmental protection by funding WATERMAN system to provide forecasts of water conditions

29 April 2009

Coastal and marine pollution has become a hot topic in recent years. To enable Hong Kong's coastal water quality to be forecast more effectively, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has donated HK$29.76 million through its Charities Trust to The University of Hong Kong (HKU) for the development of a water quality forecast and management system entitled Project WATERMAN, which will greatly assist all parties involved in their decision-making.

Club's Executive Director, Charities, William Y Yiu, was joined by Permanent Secretary for the Environment and Director of Environmental Protection Anissa Wong, Vice-Chancellor and President of HKU Prof Lap-chee Tsui, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President of HKU and Principal Investigator of the Project WATERMAN Prof Joseph Lee to officiate at the launch ceremony of Project WATERMAN today (29 April).

Speaking at the event, Mr Yiu said the Club, as the largest community benefactor in Hong Kong, always strove to support and initiate projects that would enhance the quality of life of Hong Kong people. Noting increasing public concern about environmental protection in recent years, the Charities Trust had already earmarked HK$350 million in 2008 to initiate a multi-year, citywide Environment Project. "Not only air quality, but also water quality is important to public health and the environment as a whole," Mr Yiu noted. "This Internet and Geographic Information System-based WATERMAN system will provide the most updated data and scientific forecasts for all Hong Kong coastal waters, which will prove useful for Government departments, engineers, fishermen and the public. In the longer term, we hope it can also contribute towards protecting public health and raising public awareness on conservation of our water environment."

The Environmental Protection Department established an extensive programme to monitor the quality of Hong Kong waters some 20 years ago. The WATERMAN system, developed by The University of Hong Kong, will take this important stage further by establishing a system comprising four major components: beach water quality forecast system; fisheries management system; 3D environmental impact assessment system; and an education platform. The system will provide latest data on water quality monitoring and forecasts including daily beach water quality forecasts, prognosis for red tide outbreaks, water quality and flow information. Public can access the above information through the project's website so that swimmers can select beaches with better water quality, fishermen can be alert for possible red tide outbreaks, related governmental departments and engineers can also formulate preventive policies by making use of the data. 

Members of the public are welcome to view project details at the website www.waterman.hku.hk and access the WATERMAN forecasting system and 3D Environmental Impact Assessment System by phases from 2010. To complement the system's development, public education programmes will also be organised to enhance community awareness and understanding of water quality.