Taiwan Today

President Ma Ying-jeou said Jan. 3 to increase water sources and save supplies, construction of the Meinong Reservoir in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung County could be restarted. Ma’s remarks came upon his inspection of Zengwen Reservoir. The president noted reservoirs do not last forever, but have a definite life span. Southern Taiwan may suffer water shortages over the long term, which may cause battles over access to water, leading to a public security problem, so water supplies have already been elevated to the level of national security. At the same time, reservoir siltation must be attended to immediately. Ma commended Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih’s succession of efforts to save Zengwen and Nanhua reservoirs. Su said Zengwen Reservoir is “already beyond cure,” so that in the future cultivation of the first rice crop may be permanently halted, resulting in long-term food shortages and national security problems. He hopes before the central government’s plan to apply a special budget of NT$34 billion (US$1.064 billion) to remove sedimentation from Zengwen and Nanhua reservoirs is passed into law, a cross-ministerial task force can be formed to establish a Zengwen River Basin Management Bureau as soon as possible. Regarding the removal and piling up of silt, Su recommended the use of conveyor belts in place of dump trucks, and using the silt upstream to construct diversion weirs and check dams, as well as for coastal protection. Yang Wei-fuu, director-general of the Water Resources Agency, said 450,000 cubic tons of silt can be removed annually from Zengwen Reservoir by road transport. If drainage channels are built, to be completed in two years, 300,000 to 500,000 cubic tons could be handled per year. However, Typhoon Morakot alone brought in nearly 100 million cubic tons of sedimentation. Ma said at 300,000 cubic tons annually it would take dozens of years to remove that much silt, so alternative measures must be found in addition to silt removal. There should be an agency specifically in charge of river basin management, Ma said, and strict environmental protection measures should be in force in designated headwaters. He said the use of conveyor belts to transport silt out of reservoirs and the establishment of soil banks are good ideas, but first environmental impact studies must be carried out. Ma said the long-term water shortages in the south must be taken very seriously. Local water sources are very important, as it is very difficult to transport water to where it is needed. In the interest of developing water resources, the plan to build Meinong Reservoir, which had been discontinued, will be brought up for further discussion. Many new plans to develop water resources are controversial, he said, but the problems must be faced. The Ministry of Economic Affairs should also increase incentives for water conservation and step up their promotion, he added. (THN)