Water restrictions in some parts of Taipei might be lifted after recent rains led to a significant rise in the water level at the Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County, governmental authorities said yesterday.
Following a rainy weekend, Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (
According to a report by Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢), the director-general of the Water Resources Agency, the reservoir contains 61.81 million tonnes of water, while the Feitsui Reservoir contains 243.32 million tonnes of water.
"If the situation remains stable, we predict that no stricter water conservation measures would be imposed in northern Taiwan," Chen said.
Water-conservation measures have been imposed in northern counties since Friday. The water-supply to heavy users, such as saunas and car-wash services, was reduced to 80 percent in Taipei City and Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu Counties, and the supply to the industrial sector was reduced to 95 percent.
Since late last month, 298mm of rain was measured at the Feitsui Reservoir, lifting the water level to 3.6m. The Shihmen Dam received 228mm of rain, which lifted its water level to 3m.
Government officials warned that the water supply in the dam remains insufficient and urged residents in the north to use water wisely.
"Existing water-conservation measures in the greater Taipei area, which is supplied by the Feitsui Reservoir, might be lifted soon," Chen said.
Lin requested that the Water Resources Agency compile a collective report early next week to determine if the recent rains have made a difference to the drought in certain areas. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has scheduled a meeting on ways to combat the drought for Feb. 17.
Officials said yesterday that the water supply in the south remains abundant, but that outlying counties, including Penghu and Matzu, will continue to be reliant on existing water transportation measures until at least the end of June. The government currently ships 3,300 tonnes of water to Penghu every day.
The water-transportation pro-ject has been shipping 2,000 tonnes of water to Matzu every day for several weeks. Unless more rain falls, the water-transportation pro-ject will probably continue until the end of May, officials said.
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday lifted its heavy rain warning. Expecting the current cold front to start weakening tomorrow, forecasters have predicted several days of fine weather.
According to meteorologist Chen Wei-liang (陳維良), today's temperature would probably not be much higher than yesterday's, with an expected high of 18?C. Increasing northeast trade winds might bring rain to mountainous areas in the north and in the northeast.
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