Taiwan’s water situation does not look good. The Council of Agriculture’s Irrigation Agency has even asked Jenn Lann Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Taichung’s Dajia District (大甲) to organize a prayer meeting to ask for rain. Even if the gods were to oblige this time, people would have to pray again many more times unless attitudes toward water management change.
Taiwan enjoys ample water resources, but the problem is that rainfall is uneven. In addition, when there is torrential rainfall, less than 20 percent of the water is used and the rest runs into the sea.
RESERVOIR OBSTACLES
Our forebears understood that water reservoirs were necessary, but rising environmental awareness has become a difficult obstacle to new reservoir projects.
Although large dams would affect the natural migration of fish, fish ladders could be installed and reservoirs could supply a stable flow of water to prevent them from drying up.
Work on the Gaoping Great Lakes (高屏大湖), which doesn't have high dam walls, and the Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) Inter-basin Transfer project both ran into problems, and proposals to increase the height of existing reservoirs have also generated backlash. There is not much water management personnel can do if there are other policy considerations to address in addition to planning.
BENEFITS OF INDUSTRY
As industrial use of water has rapidly increased in the past few years, the redirection of water for agricultural use has been strongly criticized, but surely industrial use also raises many questions, such as the government’s role in establishing industrial and science parks.
Is it not a positive political achievement to entice big high-tech companies to stay in Taiwan and invest here? Do higher profits not result in greater tax revenue, and is this not good for the country?
Why is there a “water consumption fee” since water prices are incremental, so the unit price increases as water use increases? Why is industry forced to cut down on water use during droughts when they use the same tap water the public does?
AGRICULTURAL ISSUES
There are also problems connected to water for agricultural use. Growing rice uses a lot of water for low production value, but can farmers easily switch to another crop?
Also, rice might not turn a huge profit, but the profit is guaranteed, and during the wet season there is ample water, so why not use it, as not using it could affect future water-use rights?
In addition, there is a lot of leakage from irrigation canals — which is not a matter for just any one person — and with such extended excessive use of water, it would be difficult to abruptly cut down on water use. Why is water for agricultural use the first to be cut during a drought?
Everyone wants to use water, and they want a solution that is economically and environmentally perfect, and that no one opposes. Yet is that even possible?
At least Taiwan can still expect more than 1,500mm of rain. Preserving rainwater, building reservoirs and lakes, increasing the height of existing reservoirs — all these options are based on hopes that the gods will provide rain, but it is still possible to carefully pick the right area and pump groundwater and develop subsurface water resources.
These methods are more effective than praying for rain, but they come at a cost — there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Chang Yen-ming is a former section chief of the Water Resources Agency.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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