A recent stormfront brought strong winds and heavy rainfall, boosting Taiwan’s water supply. Rain was mostly concentrated in the northern and central parts of Taiwan, with the Feitsui Reservoir receiving the most at 3.9 million tons. However, the rainfall has benefitted all reservoirs in Taiwan, adding an estimated total of 19.08 million tons of water to reservoirs across the country.
Despite having already received such heavy gains, more is expected to come in the upcoming holiday weekend. Officials claim rainfall from the past weekend combined with possible rainfall over the Tomb-Sweeping holiday marks the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season.
The Water Resources Agency (WRA) will begin preparing for flood control while maintaining its efforts toward water conservation. Officials from the agency said that the current level of reservoirs from across Taiwan range between 30% and 70%. While the recent rainfall helped decrease the amount of water supply used in agriculture, it also helped with irrigation. The WRA plans to use this opportunity to implement artificial rainfall enhancement, and the agency will also work with the Irrigation Agency to implement water conservation.
Officials stressed that while the capacity of each reservoir has increased, water storage must change to meet demand. Moving into the upcoming rainy season, the WRA plans to proceed with caution, staying up-to-date on forecasts, and adjusting their water conservation efforts accordingly to meet the needs of the public.