A thunderstorm yesterday afternoon brought abundant rainfall to downtown Taipei but little to major reservoirs.
The Water Resources Agency (WRA) said yesterday stricter water conservation measures might be imposed in the north after Aug. 20.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
According to the Central Weather Bureau, most of the rainfall was concentrated in downtown Taipei.
In the Ta-an District, 102.5mm of rainfall accumulated within two hours. Rainfall at 15 areas in Taipei City exceed 50mm.
The Shihmen Reservoir in Taoyuan County received only 3.3mm of rainfall yesterday. The water level at the reservoir yesterday was 215.8m.
Without more rain, the water level is expected to reach its critical level, 210m, in 20 days.
The Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County gained 4mm yesterday.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"We have to raise our voice now to remind residents of the need for water conservation. Save the water you use for taking a shower and reuse it to clean floors or something else," Ma said.
In addition, Ma said the city government would not introduce stricter water rationing before discussing the matter with the central government.
The WRA drafted possible water restrictions yesterday to be imposed in the north in case heavy rains don't come this month.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will hold a meeting on Thursday to finalize strategies presented by the WRA.
According to agency director Chen Shen-hsien (
Water rationing in Keelung would be accompanied by appropriate measures to meet water demand for fire-fighting and medial treatment, Chen said.
Keelung City tightened its water restrictions on Saturday, stopping non-essential use of water by grounding street-washing trucks and turning off fountains. The water supply to swimming pools in the city has also been cut by 20 percent.
Chen said water stored at the Hsinshan Reservoir in Keelung would only last until Sept. 8.
In Taipei, Chen said, the second-phase of water restrictions may begin at the end of the month.
"The supply to water-consuming industries and heavy users ... will be cut by 20 percent. But the supply to industrial zones will be cut by only 5 percent," Chen said.
The water supply to the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park, Chen said, would not be affected because water stored at the nearby Paoshan Reservoir remains abundant.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS