News
Rains provide modest relief to some reservoirs
The Feitsui Reservoir Administration says the Greater Taipei area is unlikely to experience water shortages within the next three months because of yesterday's heavy downpour.
Reservoir officials say the Feitsui Reservoir catchment accumulated over 3.8 centimetres of rainfall -- or over 10-million cubic meters, which is equivalent to the storage capacity of the Xinshan Reservoir in Keelung.
The administration says the Feitsui Reservoir is now currently at 68% of capacity and the downpour has supplied the Greater Taipei area with four days of water.
However, the Water Resources Agency's Northern Region Water Resources Branch says Thursday morning's rain only added a modest amount of water to the Shimen Reservoir catchment area in Taoyuan.
The reservoir, which can store 50.19 million cubic metres of water, had hit 24.56% capacity as of noon yesterday, as the downpour brought only 0.95 centimetres of rainfall to the reservoir's catchment area.
Water levels at the Ming-de Reservoir in Miaoli County have dropped below 30%, with only a slight improvement despite recent heavy rains. This morning's downpour added approximately 200,000-250,000 tons of water, which is not enough to significantly impact the reservoir's 26% storage level.
Similarly, Li-yu Lake and Yong-he-shan Reservoirs report storage rates of 34% and 50%, respectively. Planned cloud seeding efforts were cancelled due to unfavourable weather conditions.
The Ming-de Reservoir workstation noted the rain was heavy around the dam area but scant at higher elevations, which are crucial for water collection. Yesterday morning's rainfall lasted less than two hours, providing less than a day and a half's water supply.
