Southern Taiwan has enough water to last through next month thanks to the current plum rain front, although the total amount of rainfall was limited, the Water Resources Agency said on Monday.
An estimated 16.64 cubic meters of rain entered the nation’s reservoirs between 7am on Saturday and 8am on Monday, as the first weather front of the plum rain season swept over Taiwan, agency data showed.
Of that amount, 1.2 million cubic meters fell in the Zengwen (曾文) and Wushantou (烏山頭) reservoirs in southern Taiwan, bringing them collectively to 13.3 percent capacity.
Photo courtesy of the Water Resources Agency via CNA
However, this wave of rainfall mostly aided reservoirs in central Taiwan, which gained about 11.4 million cubic meters.
Rain fell over downstream farmland as well as in upstream catchment areas, helping reduce the amount of reservoir water needed for irrigation, the agency said, calling the rain “timely” for parched agricultural areas in the center of the country.
Although the south did not receive a lot of rain, it was “better than nothing,” an agency official said.
The area still needs more rainfall to ease drought concerns, and with the current front clearing out on Monday evening and forecasts for the next one uncertain, it is not clear when water rationing could end, the official said.
Tainan and Kaohsiung remain under an “orange” water conservation alert, with limited water supply to some large commercial users.
The Central Weather Bureau is forecasting dry weather until the next plum rain front on Saturday brings the potential for sporadic showers, although it expects the front to pass quickly.
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