The Ministry of Economic Affairs has eased water-rationing measures in parts of the nation as a plum rain front has brought heavy downpours and is forecast to bring more over the weekend.
The ministry’s drought task force yesterday said it had lifted phase-two water rationing in parts of northern and central Taiwan and suspended the implementation of phase-three water rationing in Kaohsiung by two more weeks.
Most areas of Changhua and Miaoli counties and Taichung recorded their most significant rainfall this year between Wednesday and yesterday afternoon, with accumulated rainfall of between 100mm and 200mm.
Most districts in Taoyuan also saw cumulative rainfall of between 60mm and 137mm during this period.
Following the downpours, the task force lifted phase-two water rationing, replacing it with phase-one measures, in Miaoli County, Taichung and the area supplied by the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫), including Taoyuan, parts of New Taipei City and Hsinchu County.
Phase-one water rationing means reduced water pressure at night; phase two calls for water supply restrictions for users who consume more than 1,000 cubic meters per month; and phase-three rationing cuts the water supply to entire areas for two days a week on a rotating basis.
As for Kaohsiung, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Yang Wei-fu (楊偉甫) said phase-three measures would be suspended for two more weeks from Monday to June 6, since the runoff of the municipality’s main supplier, the Gaoping River (高屏溪), had also increased since Wednesday.
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday forecast that the plum rain front would bring more rain to southern Taiwan over the coming two days.
The water authorities announced phase-three rationing in 29 of Kaohsiung’s 38 districts on May 4, although it has not been implemented.
The Gaoping River provides 70 percent of the water consumed in Kaohsiung.
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