Water supplies to Kaohsiung and Tainan during late night hours were to be cut beginning yesterday, as lower-than-usual rainfall continues to plague the nation, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) announced.
In what it called a “phase one” water rationing measure, the agency flashed a “yellow” alarm over possible water shortages as a result of continuing dry weather that has hit the entire country.
Under the measure, water pressure will be lowered so less water is pumped to reserve tanks or towers in the southern cities from 11pm to 5am, and water for irrigation will also be reduced.
Photo: CNA
Though the measure will not significantly affect industrial and household water usage, Tainan City Economic Development Bureau Director Yeh Hui-ching (葉惠青) urged people to conserve as much water as they could.
Dry weather over the past few days has lowered Nanhua reservoir’s weir flow rate — an indication of how much water is in the basin of water created by the weir — to 10.1 tonnes per second, which is approaching the “warning level” of 9.7 tonnes per second, according to the agency.
Agency Deputy Director-General Wu Yueh-hsi (吳約西) said the Ministry of Economic Affairs will hold a meeting on Monday to review the water situation across the country.
Wu said he expected the government to start “phase two” rationing measures later this month in Changhua, -Taichung, Miaoli, Hsinchu and Taoyuan cities and counties.
Under second-phase water rationing regulations, water will not be supplied to fountains or for such non-urgent uses as street cleaning, and washing building exteriors.
In addition, the supply of water for swimming pools, car washes, saunas and operations that use 1,000m3 or more per month will be cut by 20 percent. The supply to industrial users will be reduced by 5 percent.
First-phase water rationing was introduced in Hsinchu on March 18 and expanded on April 1 to include Taoyuan and Miaoli counties, the Banciao and Sinjhuang districts of New Taipei City (新北市) and Greater Taichung and Changhua County.
In western Taiwan, water supplies are normal only in Yunlin and Chiayi counties, even though the water level at the two major dams in Chiayi has fallen to 25 percent of capacity.
Since late last month, the weather bureau has recorded average rainfall of less than 1mm for Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan, much lower than the 47mm for the same period in previous years, Wu said.
Weather forecasters are not expecting much relief for southern Taiwan in the coming days, he added.
Typically, the plum rain season in Taiwan begins on May 1 and lasts until the end of June, but the Central Weather Bureau has forecast that the rains will arrive later than usual this year.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS