Projects started before the drought to remove silt that has accumulated over the years at the nation's reservoirs will increase Taiwan's water storage capacity dramatically, Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (林義夫) said yesterday.
According to Lin, the added storage capacity will equal the capacity of the reservoir of the Mingte Dam (明德水庫) in Miaoli County -- about 11.3 million tonnes of water.
The task is being carried out at three of the nation's largest reservoirs
Lin yesterday inspected silt removal at the Shihmen Dam (
Attention to the issue of accumulating silt is not new.
Early in April, legislators warned that Taiwan's reservoirs had accumulated too much silt and were losing their capacity to hold water.
According to lawmakers, soil erosion caused by poor land management in mountainous areas has brought large amounts of silt down into the nation's dams. Recent statistics show that 277 million cubic meters of silt have accumulated in Taiwan's reservoirs. However, according to the legislators, by the end of last year, only 29.7 million cubic meters of silt had been removed.
Lin said yesterday that this year about 27.4 million cubic meters of silt would be removed from the Shihmen, Ahkongtien (
Similar projects are being carried out to take advantage of the drought at other reservoirs, boosting the total amount of silt being removed this year to about 45.2 million cubic meters, Lin said.
"We hope to seize the opportunity to remove as much silt as we can to increase our water storage capacity," Lin said.
Lin also said a total of NT$260 million had been allotted for the projects.
Lin yesterday demanded that the Water Resources Agency (WRA) restore damaged land in mountainous regions where rain accumulated to minimize the amount of silt flowing into reservoirs.
As of yesterday, the water level at the Shihmen Dam was at 200m, meaning the reservoir would likely reach "dead storage" level (the level under which water must be pumped out), 195m, within two weeks.
Officials said that if water levels dropped below dead storage level, 50 pumps would be needed to pump out 450,000 tonnes of water per day.
Many people on the island are now praying for rain, including legislators. Yesterday morning, TSU legislators held a ritual ceremony in front of the Legislative Yuan to pray for showers.
Central Weather Bureau officials said yesterday that showers were likely in central and northern Taiwan during the following three days because of the arrival of a front. Another front following it, officials said, would approach Taiwan around next Tuesday or Wednesday.
"The second front is much stronger and will bring Taiwan torrential rains," said Daniel Wu (
Wu stressed that people should not neglect disaster prevention, as heavy rain warnings might be issued next week.
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