The New Taipei City Government is to improve several fishways in Tamsui District’s (淡水) Datun Creek (大屯溪) that local conservationists have criticized as inadequate, New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) said on Wednesday.
Chen made the remarks during an inspection of the creek by city councilors, water resources and agriculture officials and local conservationists, saying that the city is to focus on creating an environmentally friendly development policy for the district.
The creek starts at a volcanic crater on Siaoguanyinshan (小觀音山) in the Datunshan (大屯山) range and runs for 14.5km through Sanjhih (三芝) to Tamsui, where it flows into the Taiwan Strait.
The creek is the habitat of many freshwater species and is also an important source of water for irrigation and residential use near its middle reaches.
Local conservationists, who had found that the existing fishways built in 2003 to bypass the barriers posed by the irrigation system in Tamsui are not adequate to facilitate fish migration, had petitioned the city government to take action.
According to conservationists, migratory fish continue to run against the weirs whose height differentials are greater than their ability to leap, and as a result the fish become easy prey for birds, particularly at a 70cm high weir near the Datun Bridge (大屯橋).
A study by the New Taipei City Water Resources Department identified seven issues with the fishways and the irrigation system, including the absence of fishways at several weirs of excessive heights, fishways without enough water or rest zones, and the accumulation of debris and garbage at numerous fishways.
Chen said that the city is to consult experts to address the shortcomings, and, following public hearings scheduled for next month, will begin working on proposals that obtain public support, while the Agriculture Department is to promote eco-tourism at the creek.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
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