Since 2000, central and southern Taiwan have experienced severe droughts every two to three years. Water restrictions must often be implemented and, regrettably, they have become routine. Building new reservoirs is a possible solution, but in mountainous areas few locations are suitable for construction.
New reservoir projects in such regions would damage river valleys and forests. It is also extremely difficult to maintain a reservoir’s capacity due to siltation. In short, building a reservoir in mountainous areas is not feasible.
Ahead of the 2020 elections, the Taiwan Solidarity Union proposed constructing new reservoirs in waters near the west coast. That proposal deserves more attention and further discussion.
Coastal reservoirs are far from unique. Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore use them to enhance their fresh water storage capacity.
Coastal reservoirs require dikes to separate the reservoir area from the sea. Sand and clay would need to be dredged from the nearby shallow sea bed. Penghu County’s Chenggong Reservoir (成功水庫) and Kinmen County’s Cihhu Reservoir (慈湖水庫) are two examples of such reservoirs.
A possible coastal reservoir could be constructed in western Taiwan off Yunlin and Chiayi counties. To do so, first a 3km-long, 10m-high embankment dam would be built from the Aogu Wetlands (鰲鼓溼地) in Chiayi’s Dongshih Township (東石) to the northern tip of the Waisanding Sandbar (外傘頂洲).
Next, a 12.5km-long, 10m-high embankment dam would be constructed from Budai Harbor (布袋港) to the southern tip of the Waisanding Sandbar.
After the two embankment dams are completed, the Waisanding Sandbar would become a 14km-long, 3km-wide plot, which would be covered with silt and sediment dredged from the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪), Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) and other reservoirs.
After Waisanding Sandbar is turned into a semi-artificial island, not only can trees be planted, but wind turbines can be built there. The island would then become a forest area that also generates renewable energy.
Finally, the Puzih River (朴子溪) and Lioujiao Township’s (六腳) drainage ditch would be diverted to the sea via the Beigang River (北港溪).
If a reservoir is built off central and southern Taiwan, water shortages could be addressed, while also adding more renewable energy sources. The nation would have a freshwater reservoir covering an area of 120km2, and its storage capacity would exceed about 1 billion tonnes, 300 million tonnes more than the Zengwen Reservoir. That would mean that the new coastal reservoir would be the nation’s largest.
Based on the preceding construction outline, it would also provide Taiwan with a 40km2 forest that could be used to generate wind power.
The reservoir would greatly expand Taiwan’s water storage capacity, which is currently 2.1 billion tonnes, and allow for the capture of up 1 billion tonnes of rainwater during the typhoon season. Taiwan currently loses about 70 percent of the rainwater brought by typhoons every year.
The coastal reservoir could also relieve some land subsidence problems caused by excessive groundwater extraction along the south-central coast. The new reservoir can also be used as a recreation area for windsurfing, lakeshore and waterfront activities.
This would be a large-scale project that requires further planning. Hopefully, academics and government officials will join the discussion and help realize the proposal.
Lau Yi-te is chairman of the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
Translated by Emma Liu
Taiwan’s fall would be “a disaster for American interests,” US President Donald Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday last week, as he warned of the “dramatic deterioration of military balance” in the western Pacific. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is indeed facing a unique and acute threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s rising military adventurism, which is why Taiwan has been bolstering its defenses. As US Senator Tom Cotton rightly pointed out in the same hearing, “[although] Taiwan’s defense spending is still inadequate ... [it] has been trending upwards
Small and medium enterprises make up the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, yet large corporations such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) play a crucial role in shaping its industrial structure, economic development and global standing. The company reported a record net profit of NT$374.68 billion (US$11.41 billion) for the fourth quarter last year, a 57 percent year-on-year increase, with revenue reaching NT$868.46 billion, a 39 percent increase. Taiwan’s GDP last year was about NT$24.62 trillion, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, meaning TSMC’s quarterly revenue alone accounted for about 3.5 percent of Taiwan’s GDP last year, with the company’s
There is nothing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could do to stop the tsunami-like mass recall campaign. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) reportedly said the party does not exclude the option of conditionally proposing a no-confidence vote against the premier, which the party later denied. Did an “actuary” like Chu finally come around to thinking it should get tough with the ruling party? The KMT says the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is leading a minority government with only a 40 percent share of the vote. It has said that the DPP is out of touch with the electorate, has proposed a bloated
In an eloquently written piece published on Sunday, French-Taiwanese education and policy consultant Ninon Godefroy presents an interesting take on the Taiwanese character, as viewed from the eyes of an — at least partial — outsider. She muses that the non-assuming and quiet efficiency of a particularly Taiwanese approach to life and work is behind the global success stories of two very different Taiwanese institutions: Din Tai Fung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). Godefroy said that it is this “humble” approach that endears the nation to visitors, over and above any big ticket attractions that other countries may have
RSS