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Recent rains fail to break northern drought

Recent rain brought by unstable weather systems slightly boosted water levels at major reservoirs but failed to release the north from the grip of a drought, the Water Resources Agency said yesterday.

Today, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will hold a meeting to review available nationwide rainfall figures in order to manage the continuing drought.

"It's expected that the first stage of water conservation measures currently imposed in the north will not be lifted because the amount of water at the Shihmen Dam in Taoyuan County remains insufficient," agency Deputy Director Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) said yesterday.

Since early March, in order to limit water consumption, water pressure in the northern counties, including Hsinchu, Taoyuan and Taipei, has been reduced at night.

As of yesterday, the water level at Shihmen was 214.38m. The accumulated water only filled 22 percent of the reservoir's effective storage capacity.

From last Saturday to yesterday, the total amount of rainfall at the reservoir added up to a mere 24.3mm.

"Shihmen now can only satisfy industrial and residential sectors. The amount of water to meet irrigation demands remains insufficient," Chen said.

Chen said, however, that no stricter conservation measures would be announced today.

Weather forecasters said Taiwan will be affected by heavy rains induced by peripheral circumfluence until tomorrow.

Chen said that the ministry will hold a meeting on July 5 to decide if summer irrigation, which usually begins by the middle of next month, will be launched on schedule this year, based on rainfall records available at that time.
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