"The water conditions on the island are tight now. The Taichung area has to stop water for two days a week, which is really a headache!" "Adjusting water resources a few months earlier will not be so miserable. (The authorities) just want to bet on the rainy season." "Comprehensive. Having been in power for so many years, it depends on the face of God."
The drought in Taiwan has been going on for several months, and many people have been "spitting out" on online social platforms.
The Taiwan authorities, which chanted "advance deployment" in response to the drought, can only let the people "see the sky and eat". What's the cause?
Public opinion on the island believes that the inability of the DPP authorities to govern is to blame for the water shortage crisis in Taiwan.
Taiwan's water shortage is serious.
Image source: Photo by Luo Junbin, China Times News
Rainy and dry winds in Taiwan, many reservoirs are about to bottom out
Look at the "Taiwan Reservoir Real-time Water Situation" website, and you will probably be shocked: half of the main reservoirs south of Hsinchu have red lights and alarms, and half of the 18 reservoirs have only 10% or less water storage capacity.
What's more serious is that due to the continuous drought, the shimmering Sun Moon Lake in the past has recently been quietly transformed into a "green prairie", attracting Taiwanese people to take photos and "check in."
In order to ensure production in the absence of water, many science parks in Taiwan use waterwheels for water supply.
Some semiconductor companies said that if the water shortage continues to worsen, it will likely result in damage to production capacity and a shortage of chips.
At the same time, a quarter of the island’s farmland this year has been fallowed due to lack of water, setting a record high; some cultivated farmland is also at risk of lack of water at any time; and due to lack of water, spring tea, mango and other crops are likely to be reduced in production this year. .
In terms of water for people's livelihood, many places in Taiwan have implemented the "five stop and two stop" water restriction measures, resulting in water buckets and free laundry items becoming popular products.
The water regime in central Taiwan has "red light", and Taichung City has implemented the "5 stop 2" water restriction measures since April 6.
Image source: Photo by Feng Huiyi, Zhongshi News Network
It stands to reason that with Taiwan's climatic conditions, is this the result of water shortage?
Indeed, looking at the data alone, Taiwan seems to have no reason to lack water.
According to statistics from the Taiwan Meteorological Department, the average annual rainfall in Taiwan has been as high as 2500 mm for a long time, which is 2.8 times the global average. It should be a place with relatively abundant freshwater resources.
But in fact, Taiwan’s inherent conditions limit the water storage capacity here: rivers are short-lived, mountainous areas are dominant, and natural water storage capacity is insufficient; 80% of the rainfall is concentrated in the "typhoon season" from May to October; 70% of the rainfall is lost.
As a result, the average amount of water available to the people of Taiwan each year is only one-sixth of the world average, ranking 18th in the global ranking of water-scarce regions.
The Taiwan Meteorological Department has also pointed out that due to the early end of the rainy season in 2020, and among the typhoons that formed, only typhoon "lightning" passed through Taiwan, and there was no obvious precipitation; the precipitation in June, July and September was significantly less than the average. value.
On the other hand, Taiwan’s winter is relatively warm, which also means that Taiwan not only has less precipitation in winter, but also has more evaporation than other seasons.
Moreover, in the past few years, the temperature in Taiwan has been getting higher and higher. In 2019 and 2020, the temperature record of the "hottest year" has been repeatedly set.
As a result, it finally led to the worst drought in Taiwan in 56 years.
The fire water truck of the Changhua County Fire Department is engaged in the "water rescue" campaign.
Image source: Zhongshi News Network (provided by Changhua County Fire Department)
Drilling wells, praying for rain, asking ghosts and gods, the words and deeds of the authorities are suspicious
Facing the water shortage crisis, the people of Taiwan are desperate.
Does the Taiwan authorities have any good drought resistance measures?
not at all.
Not only did it not, but the words and deeds of the authorities made people laugh.
As early as October last year, there were signs of drought in Taiwan.
Su Zhenchang, the head of the Taiwanese administration's administrative agency, said at the time that Taiwan and the Sahara Desert have the same latitude and should be short of water. "Taiwan's water is for God's sake."
Regarding Su Zhenchang’s remarks, former KMT public opinion representative Sun Daqian criticized the fact that DPP officials were lucky and did nothing. They did not open up water resources or cut down on water resources. This has led to some counties and cities today that they will continue to implement water restriction measures. .
Take the blame!
Not only Su Zhenchang, but at the beginning of March this year, Wang Meihua, the head of Taiwan's economic department, claimed that the water problem could be solved by sinking wells and drawing water, and said that he was considering the feasibility of this plan.
In this regard, some Taiwanese netizens sneered, "Just dance for rain and dance!"
Not to mention, the Taiwan authorities really listened to what the netizens said.
On March 7, Taiwan's farmland water conservancy department and related temples jointly organized a prayer ceremony for rain.
Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of the DPP authorities, also said on social platforms that she has never forgotten to pray for good weather when she visits various places and visits temples.
Regarding this, Taiwan’s "United Daily News" commented that it engages in the ritual of praying for rain, but the use of specific religious ceremonies in palaces and temples as a political method is "not asking the common people to ask ghosts and gods."
Former Taiwanese foreign affairs official Jie Wenji also lamented that the lack of agricultural water supply needs to be solved scientifically. How could one go to set up altars to pray for rain?
The ruling authorities "really joke."
The picture shows the fire fighting water truck of Changhua County engaged in the "water saving" campaign.
Image source: Zhongshi News Network (provided by Changhua County Fire Department)
When the water is used, there is less hatred, how can you just rely on "wangyunni"?
"Looking at the clouds of the drought" should be the most true feeling of the people in Taiwan recently.
But the drought hits, can it be solved only by "wangyunni"?
Obviously, the answer is no.
Although Taiwan is suffering from drought, the rainfall is still much higher than the world average.
The reason for such a lack of water is not just the "pot" of God, there are also many problems with Taiwan's water use methods.
The most important problem is the serious leakage of water supply pipelines in Taiwan's cities.
According to statistics from Taiwan, the total water leakage in Taiwan last year was as high as 456 million tons. This water can fill 2.3 Shimen reservoirs (mainly supplying water to cities in northern Taiwan).
Calculated on the basis of 289 liters of domestic water consumption per person per day, it is equivalent to missing about 66 days of domestic water consumption for the 23 million people in Taiwan in one year, and the waste is staggering.
However, only 0.3% of Taiwan's annual pipeline network is updated.
In this regard, Lin Jianwei, a retired employee of the Taiwan Water Supply Company, recently submitted a book to the media on the island and pointed out that the maintenance of important public facilities related to people's livelihood water will obviously not work without the financial support and unified planning of the administrative department.
It is a pity that the Taiwan authorities would rather use money to set off fireworks, build a "mosquito house" in exchange for votes, and invest a large amount of money and resources in military purchases, and they do not care about the livelihood of the people on the island.
The so-called "forward-looking infrastructure construction plan" of NT$880 billion has made very few improvements to Taiwan's water conservancy infrastructure.
Faced with the serious problem of water shortage, the authorities are not only asking God for clarification, but also digging wells when they are thirsty. Whose fault is it?
In addition to urban water supply, the bigger problem lies in agriculture.
At present, agricultural water accounts for 70% of the water used on the island, and the diversion canals in some rural areas are even "living cultural relics" that have survived the Qing Dynasty.
As a result, a quarter of the water from the reservoir to the farmland is evaporated and half is leaked. In the end, only 25% can flow to the irrigation link.
In addition, the reservoirs currently in use in Taiwan have a long service life and serious siltation.
Various factors have encountered droughts that have been rare in decades, and Taiwan's water shortage crisis is particularly serious.
From the perspective of climate change trends, Taiwan may encounter more droughts in the future, and water shortages across Taiwan may become normal or even worse.
The authorities blindly let the people "see the sky and eat", what would the people of Taiwan think?
I hope that the Taiwan authorities can truly start from the people's perspective. As Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said, "Take measures to combat drought and disaster relief and protect the production and life of the people in Taiwan."
Author: Benedict Tong