Water rationing has been introduced in Hsinchu, Taichung and the northern part of Changhua County, where water pressure is to be reduced during off-peak hours as a lack of rain continues, the Central Emergency Operations Center said on Thursday.
A “yellow” water conservation alert has been issued for the three areas, which means pressure is to be reduced daily between 10pm and 6am, the center said.
An “orange” alert has been maintained for Kaohsiung and Tainan, limiting the commercial water supply, with restrictions planned to be tightened starting on Thursday, the center said.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
Nonindustrial businesses with a water consumption of more than 1,000m3 per month — such as swimming pools, car washes, saunas and aquatic therapy specialists — have had their monthly conservation target increased to 15 percent from 10 percent, it said.
While water conservation in the two cities has been commendable, 40 percent of Kaohsiung’s largest consumers have not attained their monthly target, Water Resources Agency Director-General Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信) said.
The agency is to issue letters to those consumers, instructing them to increase their conservation efforts, and those who do not meet the target could have their supply cut off, he said.
As the planting season is about to peak next month, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) has tasked the water agency and the Irrigation Agency to draft strategic solutions for the agricultural sector, Lai said.
Although some rain is expected over the weekend, it would do little to alleviate the water shortage in southern Taiwan, Central Weather Bureau Deputy Director-General Fong Chin-tzu (馮欽賜) said.
Rain today and tomorrow is expected to fall mostly in northern and central Taiwan, and only in mountainous areas of the south, Fong said.
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