HONG KONG: Macau could run out of drinking water in a matter of weeks as the gambling haven's supply dries up due to a severe drought in southern China, officials said on Wednesday.

Macau's emergency reservoir has supplies to last just two weeks and the city could soon be forced to ration water and launch a bottled water programme, a government spokeswoman said.

The drought has lowered water levels in the Pearl River Delta, inundating the river mouth close to Macau with sea water and raising the salinity of the remaining drinking water.

"If the salinity levels go to high, then we'll start the bottled water programme," a Macau government spokeswoman told AFP.

"Also we'll try to convince citizens to use a smaller amount of water."

Residents and businesses, including the city's casino operators, would have to cut back on non-essential water use, she said.

Macau, the only Chinese city where casino gambling is legal, has leapfrogged Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue after opening up its market to overseas operators in 2002.

The water shortage comes as the former Portuguese colony prepares to host the Grand Prix this month and an international marathon in December.

The neighbouring Chinese city of Zhuhai - a key water supplier to Macau - is wrestling with its own shortage.

Gabriel Chan, a gaming analyst at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, however said the Chinese government would step in to prevent a crisis in Macau and its casino-dependent economy.

"Who wants to go to a hotel without a water supply? But I don't think the Chinese government would let that happen so it shouldn't be a big deal," he said.

The drought, described as the worst in decades, has left about 2.5 million people in south China without fresh drinking water, Hong Kong media have reported. Bottled water was reportedly being trucked into many drought-hit areas.

Officials in Hong Kong said the territory's water supply had not been affected by the drought so far.

Hong Kong and Macau source their drinking water from different locations.

- AFP/sc