Shimen Reservoir, which supplies water for residents in Taoyuan and the western part of New Taipei City, saw a record-low level on Saturday, amid Taiwan’s worst drought in ten years.
The Water Resources Agency said the reservoir currently stores some 50.6 million tons of water, only one quarter of its total capacity. The agency also said if there is no increase in rainfall in the coming days, areas served by the reservoir could face a water shortage as Shimen supplies an average of 1.75 million tons of water each day. It said as many as 1.51 million households in the areas will be affected.
Sediment removal work in the upstream of Shimen Reservoir has been carried out in the hope that it will retain more water when it rains.