Taiwan's water supply stable through September: WRA

Taipei, June 11 (CNA) Taiwan's public water supply is expected to remain stable through September, with reservoirs holding about one month's worth of safe storage, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said Thursday.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, WRA Director-General Lin Yuan-peng (林元鵬) said water-saving measures and interregional water transfer projects have preserved about 1.1 billion metric tons of water. Combined with recent plum rain, the measures are expected to keep water resources stable through the end of September.

Lin said irrigation water has been supplied for the first crop season in Kaohsiung and the Chiayi-Tainan area. In contrast, irrigation deliveries for central and northern Taiwan are expected to be completed by the end of June.

Amid increasing weather uncertainty and the approaching typhoon season, the agency will continue to manage water resources flexibly and coordinate closely with suppliers and users to ensure adequate supplies for domestic, industrial and agricultural use, he said.

At a news conference following the meeting, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) as saying that despite Taiwan recording its lowest winter rainfall on record, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Ministry of Agriculture, National Science and Technology Council and local governments had worked together to allocate 520 million metric tons of water before the start of the plum rain season.

Cho added that the MOEA has been urged to accelerate work on the remaining six of the project's 16 major pipelines, which are still under construction.

The premier said recent plum rains are expected to bring about 390 million metric tons of water, helping ease supply pressures in southern Taiwan.

Meanwhile, with heavy rainfall affecting parts of the country, the Central Weather Administration has increased the frequency of weather updates to assist local governments in promptly strengthening flood-prevention measures, Cho said.

He added that the MOEA activated an emergency response team on June 8 and deployed 1,792 large mobile water pumps across Taiwan. Floodwaters had receded in all 27 reported inundation areas as of Thursday, he said.

With unstable weather expected to continue, Cho instructed government agencies to strengthen preparedness measures and coordinate closely with local governments to monitor disaster conditions.

He also thanked personnel involved in flood-prevention and infrastructure work, while stressing the importance of workplace safety following a recent incident in which a construction site manager was swept away by floodwaters and rescued the following day.

To prevent similar incidents, Cho urged construction contractors to strictly follow safety procedures and instructed local governments to strengthen oversight.