This is how water is wasted in Taiwan, China: building discharge water, industrial and agricultural water

Taiwan's Annual Rainfall

Taiwan's average annual rainfall is about 2500 mm, roughly 3.5 times the world's average annual rainfall over land. But Taiwan is one of the world's water-scarce regions, and Taiwan ranks eighteenth in the world among water-scarce countries (regions)

Why is there a water shortage with this much rain? Taiwan's mountains are high and its rivers are short and swift, so water resources quickly flow into the sea. To grow rice, our ancestors built irrigation facilities to keep water resources in the vast irrigation channels and farmland. The water we drink and the water we use for farming both come from these irrigation channels; have our people forgotten this? This place that people consider water-scarce is actually a treasure island with bountiful harvests. What does it rely on? It relies on densely packed irrigation channels. At present, Taiwan has a total of 1945 irrigation channels, with a total length of more than 47,000 km, retaining our precious water resources and overcoming the inherent geographical shortcomings in irrigation water.

If we want to retain our water resources, restoring the channels to natural permeable stone and earth channels would not only conserve water but also restore ecology. Fallowing land to store water would not only reduce weeds but also allow groundwater recharge, increase the area for water transpiration, and also change the regional climate. Taiwan, China has 21 major rivers, 29 secondary rivers, and 79 ordinary rivers, with a total river length of 2,934 km. Why not afforest the vast river hinterlands to improve the landscape while also conserving water sources and regulating the climate? In addition, in appropriate polluted river sections, setting up forest areas and using tree species to filter and purify sewage before returning it to the river channel are all things worth considering. We humans have a very direct impact on the environment, and the government's policies and actions affect our environment and future. Water shortage is mainly caused by our excessive development.

Conclusion: If someone conducted a complete study comparing Taiwan's urbanization and development with annual rainfall, as well as the relationship between paddy farming area and annual rainfall, the problems involved should become clear. Also, no one has ever compiled statistics on the groundwater discharged by buildings, which should be even more alarming. I hope the government can properly solve these problems so that the next generation of Taiwan, our homeland, can continue to survive.