The threat of drought remains in the north of the country but recent rain means that stricter water restrictions might be postponed until the middle of next month, the Water Resources Agency said yesterday.
With the arrival of a cold front yesterday, the agency carried out cloud-seeding operations near the north's two main reservoirs by releasing silver-iodide particles into the atmosphere.
Rainfall at the Shihmen Dam amounted to 10mm, while that at Feitsui Reservoir was 8.2mm.
Together with rainfall brought by the previous cold front, agency officials said that the rainfall in March was about average for the month.
However, yesterday's rain in the north did little to ease the water shortage.
"The north is still facing the challenge of impending drought," agency spokesman Chen Shen-hsien (
Since March 6, water pressure has been reduced between 10pm and 6am in northern Taiwan to cut water usage.
Two weeks ago, agency officials predicted that the second phase of water conservation measures in the north would begin early next month. Chen predicted that the second phase would now not be imposed until the middle of April.
The tighter restrictions would cut water supplies to non-industrial heavy users to 80 percent and industrial users to 95 percent of the original supply. In addition, water supplies to artificial fountains and fire hydrants would be suspended.
Officials at Taipei City Government's Water Department said yesterday that the water level at Feitsui Reservoir was at 143m, just 5m above the level that would trigger the second phase of water restrictions in the city.
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