Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday attended a groundbreaking ceremony for an auxiliary water pipeline to connect Taoyuan’s Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) with Hsinchu County.
The pipeline would supply Hsinchu with an additional 15.4 tonnes of water per day, which would ease demand for water from the Hsinchu Science Park and residences, Su said.
A part of the reservoir’s water goes to New Taipei City, including Banciao (板橋), Sindian (新店), Shulin (樹林) and Yingge (鶯歌) districts, which adds to the load at the reservoir, he said.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
However, that would no longer be the case when the construction of a water pipeline to connect the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) in New Taipei City with the districts is completed, Su said.
That pipeline would transport 81 tonnes of water per day, eliminating the need for the Shihmen Reservoir to supply water to New Taipei City, he said.
During his time as commissioner of then-Taipei County (now New Taipei City), he had discovered that much of the area’s water supply comes from Taoyuan, so during his first term as premier from 2006 to 2007, he ordered the construction of the Feitsui pipeline, Su said.
While the Feitsui Reservoir has a large capacity, a large part of the water there is discharged to the sea during typhoons, resulting in poor water utilization, which is a problem that can be ameliorated by building pipelines, he added.
The Feitsui pipeline was originally scheduled to be completed late next year, but he had instructed Taiwan Water Corp to speed up the construction, Su said, without specifying a new deadline.
The Executive Yuan said in a news release that the two-way Taoyuan-Hsinchu pipeline supplies 4.6 tonnes of water per day to Hsinchu.
Su yesterday also revealed that the Executive Yuan has approved a plan to grant an additional NT$1 billion (US$31.77 million) for Hsinchu’s “smile waterfront” project.
The Cabinet had budgeted NT$480 million for the project under the first phase of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program.
The Water Resources Agency on Friday last week submitted a proposal to raise the budget, Su said.
The waterfront transformation project is aimed at eliminating flooding along Toucian River (頭前溪), in the area known as Zuoan (左岸), and on a 17km stretch of coast by building a waterfront park that can double as a flood retention pool.
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