Following rainfall across most of the nation on Tuesday night, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) yesterday said that the water shortage in central and southern areas had eased slightly and second-phase water rationing might not be necessary.
After the rainfall, the flow of the Kaoping River (高屏溪) in southern Taiwan, a key source of water for Tainan and Kaohsiung, increased from 14.3 cubic meters per second on Tuesday to 16.5 cubic meters per second yesterday, WRA Deputy Director-General Wang Yi-feng (王藝峰) said.
“Although the water situation in the south is more optimistic, it has not yet improved to the point at which we can relax,” Wang said.
However, the water supply in northern Taiwan is relatively stable, he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, which supervises the WRA, is to hold its third water shortage strategy meeting of the year on April 28 as planned, he said.
Efforts to avoid the introduction of second-stage water rationing before the end of the month and third-stage water rationing before the end of May are ongoing, the official said.
First-stage water rationing has already been implemented in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Chiayi, Tainan and the New Taipei City districts of Banqiao (板橋) and Sinjhuang (新莊).
In first-phase water rationing, water pressure in designated areas is lowered between 11pm and 6am, saving an estimated 3 to 5 percent of water consumption per night.
If second-stage restrictions are implemented, water fountains in affected areas would be turned off, streets would not be cleaned and supply to high-volume water users would be reduced to guarantee supply to the wider public.
Under third-stage restrictions, supply would be cut at certain times or in certain areas.
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