Economics Minister John Deng and Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji appeared before the legislature’s economic affairs committee on Wednesday to discuss plans for levying fees on water-intensive industries. The plans come as drought conditions continue along much of Taiwan’s western coast.
The government has also discussed implementing “second-stage water rationing” if there is not enough rain before the Lunar New Year. This would temporarily stop the supply of water for non-essential uses such as swimming pools.
Economics Minister John Deng said his ministry has considered levying charges on major consumers of water before. But Deng said this would require revising the Water Act and holding cross-ministerial consultations. The government may thus be unable to collect fees on heavy water usage until 2017. Deng suggested the committee introduce the necessary revisions to the Water Act immediately after the Lunar New Year recess to expedite the process.
Once the fees are put in place, the government estimates it could expect to collect anywhere from around US$19 million to more than US$50 million from the country’s biggest water users.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji said the country will not feel any major impact from the decision to stop the irrigation of 41,000 hectares of farmland. Rice paddies make up roughly half of the land affected. However, he said the government has 870,000 tons of brown rice in its stores, enough to ensure a steady supply.