Forward-looking water construction will help increase the daily water supply by 2.63 million tons, accounting for approximately 20% of Taiwan's total water use. It is expected that a further 1.2 million tons of water will be added daily by 2031.

Baoer Reservoir. Schematic diagram. (Provided by Beishui Branch of Water Resources Department)

[Reporter Liao Jianing/Taipei Report] The Water Resources Department pointed out today (11th) that the government has promoted forward-looking water environment construction since 2016. Through multiple strategies such as increasing revenue, reducing expenditure, dispatching, backup and management, a cumulative increase of 2.63 million tons of water sources per day has been achieved, which is approximately equivalent to the entire country. 20% of Taiwan's public water consumption will gradually increase the resilience of Taiwan's water supply. In the future, the Water Resources Department will continue to promote the construction of diversified water sources, including seawater, fresh water, recycled water and regional water supply system improvements. It is expected that by 120, another 1.2 million tons of water sources will be added daily.

The Water Resources Department continued to point out that Taiwan's String of Pearls Project has become an important backbone of cross-regional water source dispatch. According to statistics, from June to the end of October this year, the northern part used the Ban 2 Project in conjunction with the Taozhu Main Pipe and the Yongheshan Reservoir to support the Hsinchu area, with a total dispatch volume of approximately 94.8 million tons. In addition, the central part used the Liyutan Reservoir, the Da'an-Dajiaxi Connector Pipe and the Yun-Chang system to dispatch The water source supports approximately 28.9 million tons in the Miaoli and Chiayi areas; while the southern part supports a total of 73.5 million tons in the Chiayi and Kaohsiung areas through the Zengwen Nanhua Unicom Pipeline and the Nanhua Gaoping Unicom Pipeline. The cumulative water dispatched by the above-mentioned string of pearls inter-regional dispatch measures has reached 200 million tons, effectively leveraging the mutual aid benefits of regional water sources and enhancing the overall water supply dispatch resilience. In addition, about 130 million tons of water is diverted to the Nanhua Reservoir through the Jiaxian Barrage, which also effectively injects water sources in the south.

In terms of preparations for the dry season, in addition to the aforementioned 330 million tons of cross-regional water source dispatch, the Water Resources Department has been cooperating with various water supply and water use units since June this year to actively promote various water-saving measures. As of the end of October, through measures such as strengthening agricultural irrigation management, total reservoir volume control, and normal tap water pressure reduction, approximately 220 million tons, 78 million tons, and 12 million tons of water have been saved respectively. At the same time, we continue to promote reservoir desilting work. The accumulated desilting volume over the years is approximately 230 million cubic meters, which exceeds the effective storage capacity of a Shimen reservoir. We also use land excavation, mud pumping, hydraulic sand removal and other methods to improve the reservoir's water storage and water supply efficiency.

The Water Resources Department pointed out that it will continue to promote the construction of diversified water sources in the future, including seawater, underground water, recycled water and the improvement of regional water supply systems. It is expected that by 120, an additional 1.2 million tons of water sources will be added daily to further diversify water supply risks.