Water levels in many of the nation’s reservoirs remain low, despite a weather system dumping significant rain in northern Taiwan last week.
Several major reservoirs in central and southern Taiwan, where the water shortage has been the most serious, were still at low capacity yesterday, Water Resources Agency (WRA) data showed.
As of 10am, the Baoshan Second Reservoir (寶二水庫), which provides water for the Hsinchu Science Park, was at 12 percent capacity.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
Liyutan Reservoir (鯉魚潭水庫), which supplies water for Taichung and Miaoli County, and Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) in Tainan, Taiwan’s largest reservoir, were at 15 percent respectively, the data showed.
Meanwhile, two major reservoirs in the north — Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) in New Taipei City and Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) in Taoyuan — were at 88 and 49 percent respectively, the data showed.
To cope with the drought, tap water pressure in Hsinchu County, Miaoli and Taichung has been lowered, and water would be trucked from Taoyuan to Hsinchu, the agency said.
Science and industrial parks in areas with no risk of land subsidence would be allowed to drill temporary wells, it said.
The wells would be sealed once the drought ends, WRA Deputy Director-General Wang Yi-feng (王藝峰) said.
However, former minister of economic affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) said that drilling wells might not help solve the issue, as groundwater levels fall during droughts, local Chinese-language media reported.
To appeal to higher powers amid the drought, the Irrigation Agency yesterday held a rain prayer ceremony at the Jenn Lann Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Taichung’s Dajia District (大甲), one of the nation’s largest temples where the sea goddess Matsu (媽祖) is worshiped.
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