Capacity at the Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫), Taiwan’s largest reservoir, had as of yesterday fallen to 10.71 percent, its lowest level of the current shortage.
There was some rain in the reservoir’s catchment area on Sunday and Monday, but water levels only increased 10mm, despite artificial cloud-seeding operations, Southern Region Water Resources Office deputy head Tsou Han-kuei (鄒漢貴) said.
Later on Monday, capacity fell to about 11 percent after water was released to the Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), Tsou said.
Photo: CNA
The two reservoirs are connected, and the Zengwen Reservoir normally releases water to the Wushantou Reservoir to produce electricity, he said, adding that the water is then distributed to the greater Tainan area and the Chianan Plain (嘉南平原).
Due to the water shortage and the suspension of irrigation on the plains, water has not been released as often as usual, and Monday’s release was the first in a month, he added.
Tsou said that his office decided to release some water to the Wushantou Reservoir as water levels there have also been low.
Capacity at the reservoir had fallen from 51 percent on April 1 to 34 percent on Monday, the Water Resources Agency said.
The latest agency data showed that of the major reservoirs serving the greater Tainan area, the Zengwen Reservoir has the lowest capacity, while the Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫) is at 25.11 percent and the Wushantou Reservoir is at 36.42 percent.
It was relatively dry last year and no typhoons hit the country for the first time since 1964. The shortage has resulted in water supply restrictions in some areas in central Taiwan.
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