Despite days of rainfall in northern Taiwan, the water shortage looks set to continue, as the water level of Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) in Taoyuan — which supplies water to densely populated New Taipei City, had risen to only 22.68 percent of its full capacity as of noon yesterday.
The water levels of other reservoirs in northern and central Taiwan also rose, but the added water at some reservoirs, such as the Yongheshan Reservoir (永和山水庫), the Liyutan Reservoir (鯉魚潭水庫) and Mingde Reservoir (明德水庫) in Miaoli County, and the Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) in Chiayi County, was too little to raise their water levels past the 30 percent mark.
Wang Kuo-liang (王國梁), deputy chief of the Water Resources Agency’s Northern Region Water Resources Office, said the rainfall in the Shihmen Reservoir catchment area was not obvious in the morning hours, as most of the rain fell at lower altitudes.
As a result, strict water rationing measures are to be implemented in Linkou (林口), Banciao (板橋) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts in New Taipei City, and in Taoyuan, from Wednesday next week as scheduled, according to Wang’s office.
Under the measure, water supplies to these regions are to be suspended for two days per week on a rotating basis.
As part of the water-rationing measure, the New Taipei City Department of Education announced that 112 schools in areas of New Taipei City that receive water from the Shihmen Reservoir are to suspend swimming lessons from Wednesday next week, when phase-three water rationing would be implemented in parts of the city.
In addition, four public swimming pools and the swimming pools of four civic sports centers in the city are also to suspend operations, the department said.
Other public and school swimming pools that are not supplied by the Shihmen Reservoir will be allowed to maintain normal operations, but they will be required to reduce their water use by 20 percent, the department said.
Department Commissioner Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) said that officials have told schools to reduce their general water usage by between 30 and 50 percent and to keep their water towers filled before the phase-three rationing hits their districts, to ensure sufficient water supplies for students and teachers.
Amid the worst water shortage to hit Taiwan in more than 60 years, areas in southern Taiwan have not been spared.
Despite rain falling form clouds originating in southern China, Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫), which supplies water to Tainan, has received only 1mm of water since Monday.
As of 6am yesterday, the water level of the Nanhua Reservoir was at 163.43m, or about 32 percent of its capacity. The water level was still dropping due to non-stop outflow, the office said.
Kaohsiung is set to maintain its 20 percent reduction of water supply to industrial consumers, such as car-washes and sauna providers.
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