Rain relief brings water levels back up in north

Thanks to rainfall brought by cold fronts on Thursday, the two major reservoirs in northern Taiwan have seen their water levels rising above the lowest limits, bringing temporary relief to drought-threatened residents in Taipei and Taoyuan.

Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢), vice director of the Water Resources Agency (WRA), said yesterday that if another cold front, expected to approach Taiwan today, brings plentiful rainfall, the first stage of water conservation measures now implemented in northern Taiwan are likely to be called off.

With the water level at Shihmen Dam continuing to fall, the WRA yesterday again launched cloud-seeding efforts, agency officials reported.

Thanks to the recent heavy rain, water levels at Feitsui Reservoir and Shihmen Dam have continued to rise, although not to levels that would free water officials from worry for the coming summer.

All six artificial rain-making stations around Feitsui Reservoir became operational after 8:30am yesterday in an attempt to produce rainfall, taking advantage of the approaching cold fronts from the north, which are rich in moisture, water agency officials said.

The rain-making efforts helped raise the water level in the Feitsui Reservoir to 142.57m as of 10am yesterday, with the effective water storage volume increasing to 39 percent, or 132 million tonnes, water officials said.

The Feitsui Reservoir is the main source of water for households in the metropolitan Taipei area.

The WRA made similar rain-making efforts in the Shihmen Dam area during the same period, bringing the reservoir's water level to 218.9m, with the effective water storage volume increasing to 29.4 percent, or 69 million tonnes.

Shihmen Dam is the main source of tap water to households as well as water for industrial use in northern Taiwan, including Taipei County as well as Taoyuan City and Taoyuan County.

The Feitsui Reservoir Administration head Kang Shyh-fang (康世芳) said in March that a second stage of the water-conservation campaign would begin on April 1 if there was still insufficient rainfall in northern Taiwan and the water level at the reservoir dropped to 137m or below.

None of the water-rationing measures of the second-stage of the campaign have been implemented so far due to the weather's cooperation.

As part of the first stage of the water-conservation campaign, imposed in early March, water pressure has been reduced during the night in some areas to encourage more efficient use of water.