Irrigation Associations Restructuring Triggers Standoff; Legislative Negotiations Fail, Third Reading Passes in Early Hours

(Update: The Legislative Yuan passed the "Draft Amendment to Articles 23, 35, and 40 of the Irrigation Association Organization Act" on third reading in the early hours of the 17th, formally restructuring irrigation associations into public agencies.)

The Legislative Yuan's extraordinary session today (the 16th) took up the third reading of the "Draft Amendment to the Irrigation Association Organization Act." The bill concerns whether irrigation associations should be restructured into public agencies, but cross-party negotiations failed, and the chamber has now entered a confrontation. The Kuomintang is delaying the proceedings with lengthy speeches, but the Democratic Progressive Party has also proposed extending the meeting time, with a marathon session expected until the bill is dealt with.

Both sides of the irrigation association restructuring debate have taken strong public positions. The Yunlin Irrigation Association mobilized over a thousand farmers to protest against the restructuring outside the Legislative Yuan, while the Kaohsiung Irrigation Association mobilized more than 600 farmers to the Council of Agriculture to express support for the restructuring.

Council of Agriculture: After Restructuring, Government Will Inject Funds into Farmland Irrigation Infrastructure

In response to outside doubts that the government is nationalizing the people's property, the Council of Agriculture has repeatedly stressed that since 1994, irrigation association membership fees have been fully subsidized by the government, and government subsidies for irrigation association operations and engineering have exceeded 120 billion. Without continued government funding, farmland irrigation facilities would likely no longer be able to perform their irrigation water supply function. The Council of Agriculture also stressed that after the restructuring, the government will allocate funds to inject into farmland irrigation infrastructure. The associations' cash and non-irrigation-business assets will be placed in a special fund, and its income and surplus will be earmarked exclusively for farmland irrigation operations, to carry out channel improvement and dredging. There is no situation of the government encroaching on private property.

Will irrigation association presidents be appointed by the government? Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung explained in a recent interview that since irrigation associations are being incorporated as public agencies, their heads will be civil servants of government agencies, so there is no issue of government appointment. As for whether industrial water use will override agricultural water use, Chen also explained that after the restructuring, irrigation associations will become regional branches of the Irrigation Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, "a third-level agency," with status equal to the Water Resources Agency under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. He firmly believes that in future discussions on water resource allocation, agricultural water use will not rank one level below industrial water use, and the allocation of water resources for agriculture and industry can be "on equal footing."

Kaohsiung and 8 Other Irrigation Associations Support Restructuring

On the other hand, to express support for the irrigation association restructuring, the Kaohsiung Irrigation Association also mobilized about 600 representatives and farmers from 9 irrigation associations, including Yilan, Shihmen, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Chianan and Pingtung.

The 9 irrigation associations also issued a joint statement proposing "three supports and three agreements." The three supports include: supporting the restructuring of irrigation associations into public agencies to expand irrigated farmland area and boost national food production; supporting the government in granting irrigation associations public authority to safeguard water quality safety; and supporting government investment of forward-looking budget to reduce the leakage rate of farmland irrigation channels.

The three agreements include: agreeing that the Council of Agriculture guarantee the employment rights of existing irrigation association staff and maintain the current dual-track restructuring plan for position grades and promotion systems; agreeing that the Council of Agriculture continue to use irrigation association assets for farmland irrigation operations, earmarked for exclusive use, while the government continues to invest in farmland irrigation construction through public budgets; and agreeing that the Council of Agriculture preserve the current operation of existing workstations and irrigation teams, so they are not eliminated by the restructuring.

Irrigation Association Restructuring into Public Agencies Pushed for Third Reading, Strong Confrontation Between Sides, Council of Agriculture: Expand Service to 370,000 Hectares Outside Irrigation Zones