WRA raises Taichung water alert to green; Hsinchu remains at yellow

Taipei, March 24 (CNA) The Water Resources Agency (WRA) on Tuesday raised the water alert level for the Taichung area to green, while the Hsinchu area remained at yellow, with reduced-pressure water supply from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. continuing.

The green alert signals the strengthening of water supply allocation measures, while yellow indicates reduced water pressure and partial supply suspensions in the public sector, according to the WRA website.

Taichung's alert level was adjusted because water flow in the Daan River remains low due to a lack of rainfall, the WRA said in a press release.

The Liyutan Reservoir is currently about 30 percent full, significantly below levels seen in recent years for the same period, the agency said.

The agency said it will prioritize using water from the Dajia River, draw from drought-resistant wells in Taichung, and use subsurface water as a supplementary source without affecting irrigation.

Science and industrial parks in Taichung will reduce water use by 7 percent voluntarily, while the agricultural department will implement scheduled irrigation and gate management to conserve water, the WRA added.

In Hsinchu, the reduced-pressure water supply from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., which began on March 12, will continue. In principle, this will not affect household or industrial water supply, the agency said.

To reduce outflow from Baoshan and Second Baoshan reservoirs, the WRA has drawn water from Shimen Reservoir in Taoyuan and Yongheshan Reservoir in Miaoli.

Science and industrial parks in Hsinchu have also reduced water use by 7 percent voluntarily, along with water conservation in the Touqian River agricultural system.

The WRA said the dry season is now in its later stage, with rainfall during the forthcoming plum rain season highly uncertain, and urged the public to conserve water to overcome the challenge.