Officials from the Taiwan Water Supply Corp (TWSC) yesterday urged residents in the south to reduce their water use because signs of a water shortage in seven southern jurisdictions have been observed during the government's most recent water resources analysis.
"Consumers need to pay more attentions to water use because the amount of water transferred to Kaohsiung from other places has been reduced," said Yang Shui-yuan (楊水源), manager of TWSC's seventh district department.
According to Yang, starting yesterday, Nanhua Reservoir in Tainan would be able to send only 50,000 tonnes of water a day to Kaohsiung. As recently as three days ago, the reservoir was supplying as many as 250,000 tonnes daily.
Only 900,000 tonnes of water are being channeled from the Kaoping River each day, which is far less than 1.1 million tonnes that was being sent last summer. However, the amount being channeled from rivers has increased recently due to rainfall in mountainous areas.
According to TWSC, the amount of tap water supplied every day to the industrial and residential sectors in Kaohsiung is between 1.5 and 1.55 million tonnes.
About 450,000 tonnes of that total is for industrial use.
Officials from the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said yesterday that water supplies in the south might be further reduced if mountainous areas do not receive abundant rainfall.
Yesterday's TWSC warning follows information that was released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs after a meeting to review the water-supply situation. That meeting was headed by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Yin Chi-ming (
According to the ministry, rainfall nationwide last month was above average.
In the north, major reservoirs currently hold 160 million tonnes of water, which is more than the reservoirs held at the same time last year.
However, according to an analysis of water resources data, low rainfall in the south recently has led to signs of water shortages in the region.
WRA statistics show that the amount of water in major reservoirs in the south, including Tsengwen and Wushantou in Tainan County, is only about 17 million tonnes, which is a record low.
WRA officials said that water demand in the south could only be met until the end of next month. Officials said that they were hoping for abundant "plum rains" early next month.
WRA officials yesterday urged high-tech firms in Tainan Science Park to adopt water-efficiency measures in order to preserve water resources.
The officials said that if the plum rains bring disappointing rainfalls in the south, leaving farmland fallow in the summer would be the only way to prevent drought conditions that would be disastrous for the industrial sector.
In Chiayi County, major reservoirs hold about 12.8 million tonnes of water, which can sustain the region until the end of June.
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