Taiwan’s two largest cities are set to begin water rationing in the face of the worst drought to hit the nation in a decade. Phase-one rationing will affect some 1.75 million people in those two cities.
The areas affected will include ten districts in the Banqiao and Xinzhuang areas of New Taipei, in the northern part of Taiwan, and Greater Kaohsiung in the south.
The Water Resources Agency is planning to begin reducing water pressure in the target areas between 11pm and 5am on Monday. The agency says that most people will not feel the effects of phase-one water rationing. However, it said that people who live at the end of the water lines or on high ground may need to take precautions.
Phase-one water rationing has already gone into effect in New Taipei’s Linkou District, and Taoyuan, Greater Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, northern Changhua and Tainan.
Authorities have begun rationing because Taiwan only recorded 75 millimeters of rainfall in the months of October and November. A Central Weather Bureau Official said that’s the lowest rainfall recorded for that period since the bureau began keeping records in 1947.
This first round of cuts has led to concerns about phase-two cuts, which would restrict the water supply for major users, such as swimming pools and car washes. But water authorities say that the water supply should be sufficient up until the Lunar New Year, which begins on February 19, 2015.