The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday announced that it would suspend water rationing measures for Taichung, Miaoli County and northern Changhua County thanks to seasonal plum rain and heavy rainfall brought by Tropical Storm Choi-Wan last week.
Measures to shut off the water supply to these areas on a rotational basis for two days a week would be lifted with immediate effect, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said in an video released online yesterday.
“Over the past few days, the rainfall [in reservoir catchment areas] has exceeded 100mm. Coupled with other sources of water, such as underground water, underflow water and filtered water sourced from construction sites, we now have enough water for use until the end of July,” Wang said, citing Water Resources Agency data.
Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu, Taipei Times
“Therefore, we can now stop the water supply restrictions” in these areas, Wang said, while warning that the water shortage is not yet completely over.
Taichung, Miaoli County and northern Changhua County have been on “red alert” since April 6, with households and businesses supplied with water for five days a week on a rotational basis, Taiwan Water Corp (台灣自來水) has said.
Based on the agency’s statistics, a plum rain front has since Tuesday last week added about 170 million tonnes of water to the nation’s reservoir catchment areas, the ministry said in a news release.
As of yesterday, an estimated 42 million tonnes of water was deposited into New Taipei City’s Feicui Reservoir (翡翠水庫), about 9 million tonnes went into Taoyuan’s Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) and a total of nearly 1.8 million tonnes went into Hsinchu County’s Baoshan Reservoir (寶山水庫) and Baoshan Second Reservoir (寶二水庫), it said.
The water volume at Yongheshan Reservoir (永和山水庫) in Miaoli County rose by 1.2 million tonnes, Taichung’s Liyutan Reservoir (鯉魚潭水庫) and Deji Reservoir (德基水庫) saw a combined increase of 17.5 million tonnes, while Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake Reservoir (日月潭) and Wushe Reservoir (霧社水庫) saw a total increase of about 11 million tonnes, the ministry said.
In Tainan, 25 million tonnes of water was added to Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫), while a combined 41 million tonnes went into Zengwun Reservoir (曾文水庫) and Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), it said.
The ministry said its drought disaster command center would host a meeting today to review follow-up drought control and water-saving strategies with related agencies.
The agency said that it would continue its efforts to boost the storage capacity of reservoirs and build a cross-regional water supply network in western Taiwan.
The construction of 11 water recycling plants in areas including Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung would be completed by the end of 2026 to provide up to 289,000 tonnes of water every day, while plans to build more desalination plants in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung are under way, the agency said.
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