A thunderstorm yesterday afternoon raised the water level at the Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County, but there was some relief from the drought in a downpour later in the day.
The Taipei City Government proposed launching stricter water measures should the water level fall to 130m from the 138m recorded yesterday.
Yesterday's thunderstorm brought abundant rainfall to Ilan County, whose accumulation exceeded 100mm for the day.
At Feitsui Reservoir there was 6 million tonnes of rainfall which amounted to an accumulation of 40mm as of press time last night. This was sufficient to provide three days more tap water for the greater Taipei area.
"If rains don't come, the possible launching date [for further water restrictions] could be at the end of this month," Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
According to Feitsui Reservoir director Kang Shih-fang (
"It means we have 60 million tonnes of water less. The amount can sustain the city for one month," Kang said.
Officials said that, without significant rainfall, the water level at the reservoir would reach its critical level, 117.5m, in less than 50 days.
Beginning today, parts of Peitou and Yangmingshan will impose water rationing due to the shortage.
Water Resources Agency Director Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) said yesterday that when and how to launch stricter water conservation measures would be discussed at a press meeting held by the Ministry of Economic Affairs tomorrow.
Water officials have also been monitoring the level at Shihmen Dam in Taoyuan County. The level is expected to fall to its critical level, 210m, in less than 20 days without more rain.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
STUMPED: KMT and TPP lawmakers approved a resolution to suspend the rate hike, which the government said was unavoidable in view of rising global energy costs The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it has a mandate to raise electricity prices as planned after the legislature passed a non-binding resolution along partisan lines to freeze rates. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers proposed the resolution to suspend the price hike, which passed by a 59-50 vote. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) voted with the KMT. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT said the resolution is a mandate for the “immediate suspension of electricity price hikes” and for the Executive Yuan to review its energy policy and propose supplementary measures. A government-organized electricity price evaluation board in March
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China is mischaracterizing UN Resolution 2758 for its own interests by conflating it with its “one China” principle, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert said on Monday. Speaking at a seminar held by the German Marshall Fund, Lambert called for support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the international community at a time when China is increasingly misusing Resolution 2758. The resolution had a clear impact when it changed who occupied the China seat at the UN, Lambert said. “Today, however, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] increasingly mischaracterizes and misuses Resolution 2758 to serve its own interests,” Lambert said. “Beijing