The “pearl chain” water project is nearing completion, President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, adding that the initiative linking reservoirs would help secure water supplies for agriculture and semiconductor development.
The “pearl chain” project, spearheaded by the Water Resources Agency, aims to create a network across Taiwan, facilitating water transfers between areas, optimizing water use and reinforcing regional resource management.
The initiative is nearing completion and would link Taiwan’s reservoirs and dams into an integrated network, Lai said during the groundbreaking ceremony of the nation’s first semiconductor supply chain zone at the Pingtung section of the Southern Taiwan Science Park.
Photo courtesy of the Water Resources Agency’s Northern Region Water Resources Branch
Under the project, New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), traditionally supplied by the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫), would instead receive water from the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫), freeing the former to support areas farther south, including Hsinchu, Lai said.
A second raw-water pipeline would connect the Shihmen Reservoir to Hsinchu, he said, adding that in central Taiwan, the Daan River (大安溪) and the Dajia River (大甲溪) are part of an ongoing interconnection project.
Water from the Liyutan Reservoir (鯉魚潭水庫) can now support Miaoli, where the Tianhuatan Reservoir (天花潭水庫) is still under construction, Lai said.
Meanwhile, the connection between the Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), the Chianan Irrigation Canal and the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) has been completed, he said, adding that plans are under way to link the Wushantou Reservoir, Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫) and the Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫).
A water connectivity project between Kaohsiung and Pingtung is also in progress, Lai said.
The “pearl chain” project linking the nation’s reservoirs and dams would enable northern and southern regions to support one another and share water resources, he added.
Separately yesterday, Cho said the project would ensure that the agriculture and semiconductor industries have the water resources they need to thrive.
The project in southern Taiwan — from Zengwen to Nanhua, Kaohsiung to Tainan, and Nanhua to the Kaohsiung-Pingtung area — has been completed, he said.
Once the sections connecting Miaoli, Taichung and Hsinchu are finished, water could theoretically flow from the north to the south and vice versa, effectively turning Taiwan into a “string of pearls,” Cho said.
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