The Water Resources Agency (WRA) has imposed rationing and authorized unallocated water reserves for household use until July, after the driest winter in 75 years in Taiwan’s western region.
Reservoirs south of the Hsinchu-Yilan line this winter reported between 7 and 37 percent of rainfall compared with the same period last year, sparking a water shortage, the agency said in a news release after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Rainfall at Hsinchu County’s Baoshan Reservoir 1 (寶山第一水庫) and Baoshan Reservoir 2 (寶山第二水庫), and Miaoli County’s Liyutan Reservoir (鯉魚潭水庫) were at 60 to 80 percent of the level recorded during a severe drought in 2021, it said.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
The shortages affect water supplies for chipmaking hub Hsinchu County and industrial center Taichung, the agency said.
The WRA has activated emergency measures to facilitate the diversion of water resources from unaffected regions and reduce wastage, policies that are to remain in force until July, it said.
Private industries are voluntarily reducing their water usage by up to 7 percent, the maximum amount that could be spared without adverse effects on production, the agency said.
State-owned enterprises and government offices have ceased unnecessary water use and farmers are enacting irrigation methods that save water, it said.
The pressure in water mains designated for household use is being reduced between 10pm and 5am, it said.
Measures to distribute water resources across regional lines, dam outflow controls, increased utilization of river runoffs and recycling, and regulations aimed at reducing irrigation wastage have been in place since June last year, the agency said.
The measures enabled Taiwan to tap into 810 million tonnes of water, equivalent to four times the capacity of Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫), it said, adding that 232,000 tonnes are daily diverted to Hsinchu.
Pipelines that were built under the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Development Plan have transported 390 million tonnes of water between the nation’s catchment systems in response to the shortage, the agency said.
The government response to the crisis has bought time for the nation’s reservoirs to meet current levels of demand for water, it said.
The agency outlined long-term plans for Taiwan’s water supply resilience, laying pipelines linking the Liyutan Reservoir to Taichung’s Shihkang Dam (石岡壩), and desalination plants Hsinchu County and Tainan.
The pipeline project is expected to completed on schedule in late June, while the agency aims to accelerate the construction of the desalination plants, it said.
The government is striving to prevent zoned water rationing for domestic use before the end of June, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.
Drought prevention requires a united effort from the entire nation, encompassing industrial, agricultural and domestic water use, he said.
The National Science and Technology Council and the Ministry of Economic Affairs should continue urging science and industrial parks to improve their water conservation efforts, while the ministry should step up public awareness campaigns on water conservation, Cho added.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
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