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Daan River and Dajia River Interconnection Project Passes Environmental Review; Farmers and Environmental Groups Criticize It as Water Grab for Central Taiwan Science Park

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Daan River and Dajia River Interconnection Project Successfully Clears Environmental Review Subcommittee; Farmers and Environmental Groups Criticize: Water Grab for Central Taiwan Science Park Industry!

The water conveyance project connecting the Dajia River and Daan River successfully cleared the environmental review project subcommittee today. Although farmers from Houli appealed at the meeting for the Water Resources Agency to guarantee the supply of irrigation water and not sacrifice agriculture, and environmental groups also attended to express opposition to the water dispatch method, arguing that excessive water extraction would strangle the river and groundwater recharge and threaten the watershed ecology, the case still passed the subcommittee review with no environmental review committee members expressing opposition.

According to the Water Resources Agency's assessment, the Taichung area currently has a daily water shortage of 86,000 tonnes, and by 2031, the supply gap will reach 220,000 tonnes per day. Therefore, it plans to build water conveyance pipelines to connect the water supply facilities of the Daan River and Dajia River watersheds. During the wet season of the Dajia River, water will be supplied from the Dajia River northward to the Liyutan Water Treatment Plant, and during the dry season, water will be supplied from Liyutan Reservoir southward to the Fengyuan Water Treatment Plant.

Taichung water resource conservationist Chang Feng-nien believes that the purpose of this project is fundamentally to supply industrial water for the Central Taiwan Science Park. National economic construction's plundering of water resources completely lacks the concept of total volume control, causing the Water Resources Agency to desperately seize water for industrial use, expanding the scope of water extraction under the name of joint operation. He warned that after the water conveyance project is completed, it will severely deplete the water resources of the Daan River and Dajia River, causing tremendous harm to agriculture and ecological cycles in the middle and lower reaches.

Schematic diagram of the trans-basin water diversion from the Daan River and Dajia River; green indicates existing pipelines, blue indicates planned new pipelines (illustration / Lin Chi-yang)

Water Resources Agency plan: South-to-North water transfer during the Dajia River wet season, North-to-South water transfer during the dry season

The Central Region Water Resources Office of the Water Resources Agency is planning this project, expected to build water conveyance pipelines connecting the Dajia River and Daan River water supply systems, and add a second raw water pipeline connecting Liyutan Reservoir to Houli No. 1 Water Treatment Plant. It will also add the Dajia water conveyance pipeline, connecting the Fengyuan Water Treatment Plant on the Dajia River to Houli No. 1 Water Treatment Plant.

The Central Region Water Resources Office of the Water Resources Agency stated that to improve water supply response capacity under climate change, pipeline interconnection will help with regional water allocation and backup, increasing water use flexibility. This project will transfer water from south to north during the Dajia River wet season, supplying Dajia River water to Houli No. 1 Water Treatment Plant and Liyutan Water Treatment Plant. When the Dajia River has high turbidity or low flow, water from Liyutan Reservoir on the Daan River will be transferred from north to south to supply the Fengyuan Water Treatment Plant.

On the left is south-to-north water transfer during the Dajia River wet season; on the right is north-to-south water transfer during the dry season (image source / Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs)

Environmental groups: The government uses climate change response as an excuse, but it is actually preparing water for the Central Taiwan Science Park Phase 3

However, Chung Han-shu, director of the Central Taiwan Office of the Environmental Rights Protection Foundation, pointed out that although this case is publicly described as pre-arranging a water supply dispatch system for the central region in response to climate change, it is actually still preparation for increased industrial water use by the Central Taiwan Science Park.

He stated that Houli No. 1 Water Treatment Plant, which both new pipelines will pass through, is precisely the source of the Central Taiwan Science Park's water supply system. It has not yet been built, but was already included in the Central Taiwan Science Park Phase 3 environmental review plan long ago. The Central Taiwan Science Park Phase 3 environmental review case has been controversial for over a decade and passed the second-stage environmental review in 2018. Chung believes that the Water Resources Agency's estimated daily gap of 220,000 tonnes in water supply by 2031 is in fact the Central Taiwan Science Park's industrial water gap.

Rivers not only supply agriculture; ecology and climate regulation need them even more, and they cannot simply be allocated to industry

Civil society groups also question that the project will disturb the ecology of the Daan River watershed, especially the habitat of the protected leopard cat. Wu Chia-chi, secretary-general of the Leopard Cat Conservation Association, pointed out that during construction, in order to prevent roadkill caused by the project, in addition to fences or culverts, automatic cameras should be set up within the construction area to monitor ecology and record the coordinates and numbers of leopard cats and other wild animals appearing, as a reference for improvements before, during, and after construction. He also suggested conducting a detailed assessment of the impacts on plants and animals other than leopard cats, so that the project's conservation measures can be clearer and more practical.

Chang Feng-nien reiterated his opposition, stating that the lower reaches of the Daan River and Dajia River have not only agricultural water needs to preserve, but also ecosystem water needs. The government's current estimate of river base flow is clearly underestimated, and after the water conveyance project is completed and supplies industrial water, it will crowd out downstream agricultural water and ecological water.

Chang Feng-nien emphasized that maintaining ample water in rivers is not only about supplying surface water, but also about groundwater recharge and supplying biological nutrients to ecosystems, and it also has a purifying and cooling effect on the climate. Arbitrary water allocation will violate natural laws. The Water Resources Agency should not unilaterally follow the opinions of the industrial sector and allow industry to take water at will, while forgetting its own responsibility for water resource conservation.

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