Southern Taiwan still faced with shortage, as two largest reservoirs are less than half full

Taiwan's top water official said Thursday that except for the southern Kaohsiung area, the island's water supplies are sufficient to meet demands until June 30.

Yang Wei-fuu, director of the Water Resources Agency under the "Ministry of Economic Affairs" (MOEA), said in a report at the Executive Yuan that a stable water supply will be ensured until August 31 if rainfall in the coming three months reaches 40 percent of the past average for the period.

Although water in major reservoirs in northern and central Taiwan has reached normal levels, southern Taiwan has a shortfall, with the two largest reservoirs - Wushantou and Nanhua - retaining only 26 percent and 41 percent of their storage levels, respectively, Yang said.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southern Taiwan March 4, damaging water retention barriers in four rivers upstream of major reservoirs and causing water storage levels to continue to decline.

"Repair of water retention barriers for the Zengwen, Nanhua, Kaoping and Jiasian reservoirs is expected to be complete by May 31," Yang said.

Meanwhile, he said the agency has been working to increase the output of underground water in southern Taiwan and planned to draw an additional 200,000 tons of water by the end of March.

He stressed that the water agency has been closely monitoring water resource management and allocation to ensure continuous running water to residents in the southern part of the island.

Yang said "President" Ma Ying-jeou had recently called for water-saving efforts to be turned into a far-reaching campaign involving everyone in the country.

The MOEA should lead the campaign and try to integrate water-saving efforts into the Taiwanese people's daily life, Yang quoted Ma as saying.

Ma also asked Taiwan Water Corp to accelerate replacement of old water pipes and solve leakage problems, Yang said.

Responding to Yang's report, "Premier" Wu Den-yih called for the MOEA, the "Ministry of the Interior" and the Council of Agriculture to push local governments to expedite flood control work, including channel dredging, flood diversion and drainage improvement ahead of the approaching rainy season.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 03/19/2010 page8)