The days of chronic water shortages in the Kinmen archipelago are numbered.

After two decades of negotiations, Fujian Provincial Water Supply Co signed a contract on Monday with Kinmen County Waterworks under which the supply company agreed to provide fresh water to Kinmen.

The project will begin in October, and the water supply test is expected to start by the end of next year, sources from the company said.

Taiwan-administered Kinmen, only 2 kilometers from Xiamen, is short of freshwater resources, with a per capita annual supply of only 167.9 cubic meters.

Water from local reservoirs is barely enough to meet demand during the dry season. The water shortage has also hindered manufacturing at the Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor plant.

Under the plan, the water supply will begin in Jinjiang in Fujian province, then flow to the city's Weitou village and from there to Tienpu Reservoir in Kinmen via an undersea pipe.

Water from Jinjiang to Kinmen will be transported 27.6 km by pipeline, of which about 15.8 km will be underwater. The total cost of the project will be more than 380 million yuan ($61.2 million).

Fujian will invest about 130 million yuan, with Kinmen paying the rest.

Kinmen plans to get 15,000 metric tons of water per day at the beginning. This is expected to increase to 34,000 tons in 10 years and 55,000 tons by 2021.

The contract will be valid for 30 years. Construction is expected to take two years.

The two companies also agreed on an offshore water price of NT$9.86 (32 US cents) per cubic meter. The price of water in Beijing is 64 US cents for residents' use per cubic meter.

Fujian Governor Su Shulin said supplying water to Kinmen is a good example of close cross-Straits cooperation.

"It's a project that follows the wills of people on both sides of the Straits," Su said.

Kinmen County Magistrate Chen Fu-hai said people on both sides of the Straits are family, "since we drink water from the same river," Chen said.

"Creating deeper cross-Straits cooperation that focuses on people's livelihoods is one of the important steps of cross-Straits peaceful development," he added.

Kinmen resident Hung Guo-tai, 62, was excited to hear about the deal.

"The water shortage has greatly hindered our economy. Without large enterprises, young people all leave to seek jobs outside. The project will boost our economy and provide more jobs," he said.

The idea of providing Kinmen water from Fujian dates to 1995. The two sides reached a consensus in 2013 on details such as the amount of water to be supplied and specifications for a pipeline.

The central government's Taiwan affairs chief, Zhang Zhijun, visited Kinmen's Tianpu Reservoir in May.

During the visit, the two sides agreed to facilitate the signing of a water supply contract between Fujian and Kinmen and the early start of related construction.

Zhang expressed his hope for completing the project on schedule, saying, "Don't politicize issues concerning people's livelihoods" and stressing that the water is not "political water".

Contact the writers through humeidong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/21/2015 page3)