Just as an extended dry spell had farmers worried, a place in the mountains of Taichung finally got a full day of nonstop rain. Needless to say, fruit farmers there are exhilarated.
It began raining at six in the morning. After 6pm, it turned to a light drizzle but kept falling for a very long time. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t be terribly newsworthy, but for farmers in Lishan, central Taiwan, that day of rainfall may prove vital: central and southern Taiwan are in the grip of a long-lasting drought that’s emptied out reservoirs.
One farmer says the rain came at just the right time, when fruit trees are blooming and tea leaves are budding. He says that to farmers, it felt as if it was raining gold.
As a result of the precipitation, Te-Chi Reservoir in the area got some rain, but not as much as the Water Resources Agency had anticipated. That’s because the reservoir’s water level was down to just 6% of capacity. The agency says it is time to create some man made rain to fill the reservoir before further water conservation measures are put into place.