The Water Resources Agency yesterday said that the economically important Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park will have enough water this year, and that the water supply in the Shihmen and Feitsui reservoirs will last until the end of May.
"It's not true that we are going to cut the park's daily water supply from the current 110,000 tonnes down to 50,000 tonnes by mid-March," said Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢), deputy director of the Water Resources Agency under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The park will have enough water this year because certain water conservation measures have been put into place.
The fallow project covering the 4,500 hectares of farm land in the Touchien River (頭前溪) irrigation area can save about 600,000 tonnes of water daily. About 20,000 tonnes of water has been diverted from the Touchien River and 100,000 more from Shihmen Dam to the science park daily, Chen said.
The five newly drilled wells near Touchien River are also expected to provide the park with 13,000 tonnes of water daily in April when the water mains are scheduled to be connected.
Despite the scarce rainfall, the water supply in Shihmen Dam in Taoyuan County and Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County will last until the end of May, Chen said.
To keep the water supply level at the two reservoirs normal, water conservation measures such as lowering water pressure during the night were implemented on Tuesday.
"We hope we don't have to impose any water rationing measures, but if it's a necessity, it should have the least impact on the public," he said.
The agency is also set to produce artificial rain both on the ground and in the air when the time is ripe, Chen said.
To solve the water shortage problem once and for all, the agency is planning to develop underground water in northern Taiwan, he said.
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