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Climate change threatens island's water supplies

This Nov. 28, 2009 file photo shows Zengwen Reservoir in Tainan County is at the water-rationing level. (United Daily News photo)

• Publication Date：12/03/2009
• Source： United Daily News

Taiwan faces serious future water shortages, especially in the center and south, according to Liu Chung-ming, director of National Taiwan University’s Global Change Research Center Dec. 2.

In August Typhoon Morakot brought huge quantities of rain, but they have not alleviated the danger of drought in Taiwan. Liu said some reservoirs in central and southern Taiwan are right at water-rationing levels, and he predicted serious water shortages next February or March. “Southerners had better not go home for the Chinese New Year,” he added.

Liu said in the past Tainan experienced an average of 204 rainless days annually, but this year there have been 300. Under the influence of global climate change, future winter cold fronts will keep diminishing in number, and precipitation will decrease. Summer conditions will not be any better, as land temperatures rise significantly and southwest monsoon winds grow in strength, pushing water vapor toward the Chinese mainland.

Research by the GCRC indicates water supplies in Taiwan are unevenly distributed. Future east coast water supplies will exceed demand, while other areas will be hard-pressed to provide water, especially in central Taiwan, resulting in “one Taiwan, two different worlds.”

In Liu’s analysis, in the next 100 years there will be extreme high temperatures, the probability of torrential rains will increase, and droughts will last longer. “At that time rainless days in the western region of Taiwan will multiply dramatically, with a surge of more than 50 such days in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung area,” Liu said.

After taking office the Ma Ying-jeou administration set its sights on bringing the island’s daily water use per person down to the world average of 250 liters. Yang Wei-fuu, director-general of the Water Resources Agency under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said Taiwan’s annual rainfall is 2.6 times that of the global average, but the water resources available per person per year are only one-sixth of the world average. “The water saving-goal should be lower than the mean global usage, to move in the direction of a water-conserving nation,” he added. (THN)