Firms face uncertainty over water

Manufacturers in northern Taiwan suffering water shortages will have to endure the problem until the government completes construction of a network to connect the nation's reservoirs, officials of the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

"We will propose a construction project to link major reservoirs," Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢), director general of the Water Resources Agency under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, told a press conference yesterday.

The network would mean that if a region's main water supplies were knocked out, for example due to a natural disaster, water could be sourced from another region.

"Hopefully the proposal will be passed by the Cabinet by the end of the year," Chen said.

The amount to be invested is not available yet, as the water agency is still studying the project, he added.

Taiwan's worst water stoppage, caused by Typhoon Aere last month, has impacted 2,287 industrial water users in the Taoyuan area of northern Taiwan, resulting in losses of more than NT$4.3 billion. Companies in the region, including Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), have trucked in 151,179 tonnes of water to maintain daily operations.

Although water services were restored over the weekend, Shihmen Dam (石門水庫), a major water source for the region, was heavily damaged and may not function well should heavy rains or typhoons hit in the future, according to the ministry.

"If water shortages occur again that affect household water supplies, we will be forced to halve supply to industrial users," Chen said.

Lee Tieh-min (李鐵民), director of the agency's North Water Resource Bureau that oversees Shihmen Dam, said at the same conference that the dam's lifespan had been reduced by more than a third after the incident, and that the region needed to look to Taipei County's Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) for help.

Water shortages have been a persistent problem for manufacturers during droughts in recent years -- but now flooding is the problem. Companies in Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), like their Taoyuan counterparts, have also had to truck in water.

Chen said the Taiwan Water Supply Corp (自來水公司) has a limited budget to construct the network to link the reservoirs, due to low water prices. The network is intended to balance water resources in the nation. The agency plans to propose that funds be allocated from the central government to carry out the project.

Dams near regions like the Hsinchu Science Park, the emerging Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) in Tainan and the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) in Taichung, are on a priority list to be connected with water-rich reservoirs in southern or eastern Taiwan, he said. The science parks consume huge volumes of water.

Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) added that the ministry is considering adjusting water prices to reflect costs. Ho said the timetable and range of the hike have not yet been determined.