Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Water rationing has been introduced in Hsinchu, Taichung and the northern part of Changhua, where the water pressure will be reduced during off-peak hours, as a drought continues, the Central Emergency Operations Center said Thursday night.
Effective immediately, a "yellow" water conservation alert has been issued for the three areas, which means the water pressure will be reduced daily between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to the center.
Meanwhile, an "orange" alert will be maintained for Kaohsiung and Tainan in the south, limiting the supply of water for commercial use, but the restrictions will be tightened starting April 20, the center said.
Nonindustrial businesses with a water consumption of over 1,000 cubic meters per month, including swimming pools, car washes, saunas and aquatic therapy specialists, will be required to increase their monthly water conservation target from 10 percent to 15 percent, the center said.
While water conservation in the two cities has been commendable, 40 percent of Kaohsiung's largest consumers have not attained their monthly target, according to Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信), director-general of the Water Resources Agency (WRA).
The WRA will be issuing letters to those consumers, warning them to step up their conservation efforts, and those who fail to make the target will have their water supply cut off, he said.
As the planting season in the agricultural sector is about to peak in May, Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) has tasked the WRA and the Irrigation Agency to come up with strategic solutions to the drought problem, according to Lai.
A senior forecaster has said that while some rain is expected on the weekend, it will do little to alleviate the drought in the southern half of the country.
The rain will fall mostly in northern and central Taiwan, and only in mountainous areas of the south, said Fong Chin-tzu (馮欽賜), deputy director-general of the Central Weather Bureau.
