Taoyuan City car wash businesses resume operations, water situation remains at orange light
Taoyuan City car wash businesses resume operations, water situation remains at orange light
Taoyuan City Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, while chairing the drought response meeting on the morning of the 10th, said that the water situation had slightly improved, with the Shimen Reservoir's water storage reaching 37%, the 6th lowest storage volume in the 58 years since the reservoir's construction in terms of drought ranking, and that various dispatch, backup, and water-saving plans still needed to be promoted to enhance Taoyuan's drought response capacity. According to the resolution of the 14th working meeting of the Central Emergency Operation Center for Drought, Taoyuan's water situation remains at the orange light, and from June 7 it was adjusted to nighttime pressure-reduced water supply (from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day), with the water-saving rate for industrial major water users of 1,000 degrees or more per month adjusted from 13% to 7%; the water-saving rate for non-industrial water users adjusted from 20% to 10%. Mayor Cheng announced that Taoyuan City car wash businesses would resume operations on (the 10th) of the same day, but must maintain a water-saving rate of 10%; in addition, swimming pools, sauna, and spa businesses would remain closed temporarily due to epidemic prevention considerations.
Mayor Cheng said that the 6,202 hectares of farmland in the Taoyuan Third Irrigation District had entered the heading stage before harvest, and thanked the Water Resources Agency, the Taoyuan and Shimen Management Offices of the Irrigation Agency, and the Water Resources Bureau for their full cooperation in prioritizing the use of pond and river water sources for irrigation, thereby preserving the Shimen Reservoir's water volume; the Water Resources Bureau and the Second River Management Office of the Water Resources Agency were asked to coordinate and continue providing pumping equipment to ensure a smooth harvest of the first rice crop in the Taoyuan Third Irrigation District.
Mayor Cheng pointed out that Taoyuan City had launched drought response work since October of last year (2020), with various bureaus and departments of the city government promoting various plans. Regarding the backup of drought response wells in Taoyuan City's 13 administrative districts, in addition to public wells, each district office expanded its inventory and survey of private wells, based on the principles that residents are willing to provide them, water quality is safe, and it is convenient for community water extraction, including domestic wells, industrial wells, and agricultural irrigation wells. At present, the city has a total of 5,065 private wells, and water quality testing and water extraction equipment for each well will be completed subsequently to increase the drought response backup capacity of each district. Each district office was asked to continue inventorying drought response wells and implementing usage plans.
Mayor Cheng said that the city government had planned in advance the response operations for a red light water situation warning, and thanked the Reserve Command and Taiwan Water Corporation for their assistance. In accordance with the policy of prioritizing water use for livelihoods, medical care, and schools, plans had been drawn up for support from military water trucks, district-based water supply, and supply transport operations for temporary water stations.
