A long dry spell with little or no rain has Zengwen Reservoir’s water storage levels at 13 percent of total capacity, with large areas of bare silt showing throughout the lake. Pleasure boats and shuttle boats can no longer berth at the Dapu Township pier, having quite an impact on the daily life of some locals. Residents and students in Yongle Village heading downtown or trying to get to and from school have to spend three or four times the amount of time commuting. The horrendous suffering of locals has them anxiously awaiting a timely rainfall that would help alleviate the predicament — the reservoir’s dearth of water.
Even though there has been no shortage of fronts in the Chiayi area since the beginning of the year, the rain has been concentrated in areas outside the Zengwen Reservoir catchment area, with only a minuscule amount of water benefiting the various reservoirs. As of Tuesday last week, more than 64 million tonnes of water were left in the reservoir storage — 20 million tonnes less than the same period last year. Water supplied to residents in the Chiayi area comes from Renyitan and Lantan reservoirs, which now only have a total storage of 10 million tonnes left. If it continues not to rain, Taiwan Water Corp will soon have to start implementing water rationing measures.
Zengwen Reservoir’s reduced water storage levels and the large areas of exposed silt have left farmers unable to use pipework rafts to go back and forth between their farms or transport agricultural products. The township office’s shuttle boat that runs four times daily between downtown Dapu and Yongle Village has also been forced to halt operations. The fishing platform built by the township office and privately run was also forced to shut down because the reservoir had run dry. The pleasure boats that originally ran between Lovers’ Park and Lakeside Park can no longer land on the bank due to the decreased water levels, leaving only the pier near the scenic overlook by the large dam for passengers to get on and off of the boats.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者吳俊鋒
久旱不雨,曾文水庫有效容量剩百分之十三,湖面到處裸露淤沙,遊艇、交通船已無法在大埔鄉境碼頭停靠,衝擊部分鄉民生活作息,永樂村民及學生到市區洽公、上下學,要多花三、四倍時間,苦不堪言,盼老天及早降下甘霖,紓解水庫水荒窘況。
今年初以來,嘉義地區雖不乏鋒面來襲,但降雨並未集中在水庫集水區,對各水庫進水量裨益有限。截至上週二,曾文水庫有效蓄水量剩六千四百多萬噸,比去年同期少二千餘萬噸。供應嘉義地區民生用水的仁義潭、蘭潭水庫,總蓄水量也僅剩一千萬噸,再不降雨,自來水公司近期內恐將實施限水措施。
曾文水庫因蓄水量下降,大面積淤沙裸露,農民往來農園、載運農產的管筏無法航行,鄉公所行駛大埔市區與永樂村每天四班次的交通船也被迫停駛。公所興建後委託民間經營的釣魚平台,也因水庫見底而停擺。原行駛鄉境情人公園、湖濱公園水域的遊艇,礙於水位下降,無法靠岸,遊客僅能在大壩附近景觀台前的碼頭上下船。
(自由時報記者謝銀仲)
Photo: Hsieh Yin-chung, Taipei Times
照片:自由時報記者謝銀仲
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