Where does the water come from? Visiting the water country: Taipei Water Source Domain

Recently, Taipei mayor-elect Ko Wen-je and the Yilan county magistrate shook hands and reached a consensus: the Taipei-Yilan direct railway will be built with the "shortest distance" as its construction goal, but this goal will cut through the water source protection area of the Feitsui Reservoir, sparking concern and criticism from environmental groups... People always say, "When you drink water, remember its source," but before the development project above drew attention, had you, living in the Greater Taipei metropolitan area, ever understood where your daily water comes from? What kind of history has the water source's past, present and future gone through? Facing rising oil and electricity prices, we can still cut back a little; but if something goes wrong with water, we cannot go a single day without drinking it. The importance of water sources is worth all of us caring about.

***

"Where does water come from?" Ask people in the city, and they will say, "Water comes from the tap"; ask the residents here, and they will tell you, "Water comes from our hometown."

In northern Taiwan, more than 6 million people get their daily water from this area, meaning its existence supplies one quarter of the nation's population. We all know that under the Water Resources Agency, which manages water sources, there is the "Water Resources Bureau"; but you may not know that the one in charge of this area's water source is called the "Water Special Area Administration" (Taipei Water Source Specific Area Administration), and it is the only one of its kind in the country, with no other branch.

"Taipei Water Source Specific Area" covers the entire Pinglin District and Wulai District of New Taipei City, as well as parts of Xindian District, Shiding District and Shuangxi District, five districts in total, and is the country's first water quality and water quantity protection area. Since the Water Special Area Administration was established on April 1, 1984, it has now reached 30 years.

This specific area, which takes up one third of New Taipei City's total area, is, in order to protect the water source, subject to the dual regulation of the Urban Planning Act and the Tap Water Act; within its 717 square li, more than 95% is designated as protected area, where clearing and construction are prohibited, and residential, commercial and agricultural zones account for only about 0.55%, while the rest is park, institutional and other land; any change or development involving houses or land is strictly controlled.