Zhonggang River irrigation suspension covers 2,083 hectares; nearly 44,000 hectares of farmland across Taiwan suspend irrigation, second-largest in history

Taiwan, China is facing its most severe drought in ten years. Following the suspension of irrigation across 1,175 hectares in the Miaoli Mingde Reservoir irrigation area, the Ministry of Economic Affairs drought response task force met at noon today and resolved to suspend irrigation across 2,083 hectares in the Zhonggang River area of Miaoli, saving 7.74 million tonnes of water. Combined with the earlier irrigation suspensions in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung and Chianan, a total of 43,650 hectares will have irrigation suspended this year, the highest in the past ten years and the second-largest in history, surpassed only by the 65,385 hectares of 2004.

At noon today the drought response task force invited the Council of Agriculture, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Central Weather Bureau, irrigation associations and the relevant county and city governments to discuss whether irrigation should be suspended in the Zhonggang River area. According to data from the Central Region Water Resources Office, the main irrigation districts of the Zhonggang River are Toufen, Zhunan, Nanzhuang and Sanwan. Because the storage rate of the Yongheshan Reservoir, which draws on the Zhonggang River, stands at only 40%, and the Meteorological Bureau forecasts a high probability of below-average rainfall over the coming quarter, with water conditions in all yellow-alert areas still tight, the decision to suspend irrigation was made.

Lai Chien-hsin, chief secretary of the Water Resources Agency, said that this irrigation suspension will require about 170 million yuan in compensation to farmers, and once the Council of Agriculture has produced its estimate, the various ministries and agencies will then allocate their shares of the funding.

The Council of Agriculture said this evening that about 54% of the suspended-irrigation Zhonggang River basin is planted with rice, with the reduced rice-growing area estimated at about 23,500 hectares, affecting brown rice output by about 128,000 tonnes. However, public grain stocks still hold 870,000 tonnes of brown rice, of which 330,000 tonnes is new-crop rice from within the past year, so rice supply will not be affected.

The Water Resources Agency said that although water use will be secure everywhere until the Spring Festival, rainfall from February to April this year will still be on the low side, and it may be necessary to count on the May rainy season. According to Water Resources Agency statistics, rainfall across Taiwan from October to January was only 30% to 50% of the same period in normal years. Although there was a brief front last week, it did little to help the main reservoir catchment areas: both the Zengwen Reservoir and the Liyutan Reservoir received only 16 mm in January, with storage at just 53% and 45% respectively, while the Shihmen Reservoir received only 11 mm, with storage at 43%.

Lai Chien-hsin said he hopes each irrigation association will work with the Taiwan Water Corporation to make good use of pond water and share the pressure on reservoir supply, for example by following the example of the Chianan Irrigation Association and channelling return flow from farmland irrigation into ponds; ponds in suspended-irrigation areas could be diverted to other irrigation districts, or used for domestic, industrial and other water-use purposes.

The Water Resources Agency will implement stage-two water restrictions after the Spring Festival, initially targeting the more water-scarce Kaohsiung and Shihmen Reservoir supply areas, restricting secondary domestic water uses such as street washing, and will also reduce supply pressure to major water users of more than 1,000 degrees, estimated to affect more than 5,000 households, to be implemented in late February at the earliest.