Taiwan Today

Progressive policymaking is boosting water resources management while preparing the country for climate change.

The Taiwan Water Congress held in December 2016 in Taipei City brought to a close a monthslong debate on the future of the country’s strategy for managing water supplies after several rounds of regional forums. The meeting, organized by the Water Resources Agency (WRA) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), was attended by representatives from government, academia and business as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and it set out actions plans for preventing floods, securing water supplies and enhancing public access to waterways. These recommendations laid the foundation for the aquatic environments component of the ongoing Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program (FIDP), a comprehensive initiative aimed at addressing the nation’s infrastructure needs for the next three decades.

WRA Director-General Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信) sees the inclusion of water-related initiatives in the FIDP as a crucial step forward in meeting basic needs and following international trends in water resources management. “Extreme weather events resulting from climate change are becoming more and more common,” Lai said. “There’ve been fewer rainy days on average, but when it rains it tends to be larger volumes in shorter periods of time.”

He referenced a recent survey conducted by state-run Science and Technology Policy Research and Information Center in Taipei showing climate-related issues are becoming a mainstream concern in Taiwan. “Environmental protection and sustainability are top priorities among younger people, and of course water supply and quality are components of that,” Lai said.

Increased rainfall intensity poses a particular danger to the country. According to Lai, drainage channels and pumping facilities in built-up areas struggle to keep up with precipitation exceeding 100 millimeters an hour, an increasingly common occurrence. To counter this, the FIDP is targeting over 200 square kilometers of urban land across Taiwan. This is backed by a larger scale strengthening of flood defenses such as reinforcing or constructing riverside and coastal levees, Lai said.

Steady Stream

Ensuring stable water provision throughout the country is also a core component of the FIDP’s development pledges. Water shortages may occur when few typhoons make landfall in Taiwan, a situation that unfolded last summer and autumn. Several projects are underway to address this danger, notably the soon-to-be completed channel between the Feitsui and Shihmen reservoirs in northern Taiwan, which will enable better coordination of liquid resources in a region that encompasses Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan Cities, as well as the city and county of Hsinchu. The new infrastructure is set to guarantee a stable supply of water in the nation’s most populous area as well as in centers of economic growth such as Hsinchu Science Park.

Providing the country’s industrial base with sufficient water to operate at full capacity is a key concern for the WRA, Lai said, citing the MOEA’s Action Plan for Welcoming Overseas Taiwanese Businesses to Return to Invest in Taiwan and two other similar undertakings launched in 2019, which to date have attracted return investment of more than NT$1 trillion (US$35.09 billion) from over 600 companies. One supportive measure seeks to recycle wastewater collected from factories through specialized treatment plants in line with the Reclaimed Water Resources Development Act. The latest such facility to be completed in Tainan City will begin sending treated water to Southern Taiwan Science Park this year.

Equally important is filling out the remaining gaps in Taiwan’s tap water network, which boasted a penetration rate of 94.5 percent in June 2020 according to WRA statistics. Areas off the grid still rely on groundwater wells, such as in remote parts of the central county of Changhua. These sources, however, are under threat as reduced rainfall and industrial pollution limit available clean water.

To ensure water security, alternative sources—such as an artificial lake under construction in neighboring Nantou County’s Caotun Township, subsurface water beneath the Gaoping and Zhuoshui rivers in southern and central Taiwan, respectively, and desalinated water produced on outlying Penghu County—are being tapped to provide a steady supply piped directly into out-of-coverage areas.

New Direction

For Yu Gwo-hsing (虞國興‬), dean of New Taipei-based NGO Taiwan Research Institute on Water Resources and Agriculture, the FIDP represents a progressive move to guarantee a sustainable water supply for generations to come. He cited the Caotun project as an example of building smaller, decentralized water storage facilities in contrast to a few larger reservoirs.

According to Yu, only 18 percent of Taiwan’s annual rainfall totaling around 2,500 millimeters is currently captured for use. “We must address how to better retain water over the course of the year and distribute it equitably around the country,” he said. Global warming is raising concerns, as seven of the nation’s 10 most serious droughts over the past six decades have occurred in the last 20 years, he added.

Determined to learn lessons from the recurring droughts, the government is taking an active approach to resolving the underlying factors, Yu said. He noted instructions from Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who recently made an inspection tour to Shihmen Reservoir and emphasized placing water security front and center of national development efforts.

Government plans involve promoting what Yu terms a “water-led society” across Taiwan in both rural and urban settings. One example of this can be seen at Taipei’s Daan Forest Park, where eco-friendly construction methods such as water-absorbing pavements are utilized as part of a so-called sponge city policy. “Previously, water would just run off into drainage ditches, but now it’s retained in the soil, which helps stabilize local ecosystems,” Yu said.

Thanks to the FIDP’s aquatic environment initiatives, the country is fully prepared to tackle the challenges to Taiwan’s water supply presented by a changing climate and population demographics. From strengthening flood defenses to ensuring industrial and agricultural heartlands have ample supplies on tap, the government has a clear, farsighted vision for water-related policymaking. “We’re not only trying to be forward-looking,” WRA’s Lai said. “It’s about seeking long-term, maximum benefit for the good of the people and natural environment alike.” 

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw