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North might avoid stricter water conservation steps

Stricter water conservation meas-ures in the north might become unnecessary if cold fronts bring plentiful rainfall, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said yesterday.

Officials said the impending water shortage might be relieved at the end of next month if plenty of rainfall was brought by future cold fronts.

The first stage of water conservation measures was imposed in northern counties -- where water pressure was reduced between 11pm and 5am -- by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on March 7.

The agency's statistics indicated that, as of yesterday, rainfall accumulated so far this month at Shihmen Dam in Tao-yuan County was 112mm, while the rainfall at Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County was 108mm.

"As long as rainfall at major reservoirs reaches 180mm, the average record in April over the years, the second stage of water conservation measures will not be imposed," agency spokesman Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) said yesterday.

Chen said that the impending water shortage would become less threatening because more rain will fall later this week, if the Central Weather Bureau's forecasts are reliable.

Weather forecasters said that the current cold front would not leave Taiwan until the weekend.

Yesterday, 27mm of rain fell near the Shihmen Dam, raising the water level about 70cm above the reservoir's critical lower limit.

Meanwhile, 22mm of rain at the Feitsui Reservoir left the water level 85cm higher than its lower limit.

Chen said that recent spring rains had significantly lifted the water levels at the two major reservoirs by about 3m.

"We optimistically predict that the second stage of water conservation measures will be unnecessary," Chen said.

Chen said that water levels at the two reservoirs had been increasing by about 20cm daily since early this month.

He said early next month the ministry will discuss the possibility of lifting the first stage of water conservation measures.

If rainfall brought by the "plum rains" next month reach the historical average for May, Chen said, the water shortage in the north could be over by the end of that month.

In the south, yesterday's rain brought abundant water, totaling around 470,000m2 of water, to two major reservoirs in the region, Tsengwen and Nanhua in Tainan County.

Meanwhile, water-resources- related governmental agencies yesterday conducted a workshop to disseminate cloud-seeding technologies.

At the workshop, participants gained experience from past cloud-seeding projects conducted at several locations around the nation.

The participants also watched a demonstration of a cloud-seeding operation.

WRA officials said their goal was to establish a nationwide task force to take charge of cloud-seeding projects during droughts.
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