The government is strictly controlling the water supply from reservoirs in southern Taiwan after low rainfall in 2022 in the region caused its worst drought in 30 years, which might result in a water shortage in the near future, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said Sunday.

Only 1,299 mm of rain fell on average in southern Taiwan last year, the lowest level in 30 years, with Tsengwen Reservoir in the south receiving 112 mm less precipitation compared with two years ago when the country's largest reservoir was nearly empty amid a serious drought, the WRA's Southern Region Water Resources Office said in a statement.

Currently, water supply remains stable in southern Taiwan but there is still a long time before the flood season, and the certainty of rainfall is low, the WRA noted, calling on the public to conserve water and prepare for shortages.

As of midnight Saturday, a joint water resource system comprising Tsengwen Reservoir in Chiayi County and Wushantou Reservoir in Tainan was at 25.9 percent capacity with a usable water supply of 152.01 million cubic meters.

Meanwhile, Nanhua Reservoir in Tainan is currently at 50.2 percent capacity, with a usable water supply of 44.85 million cubic meters.

The water supply for Tainan is mainly sourced from the three reservoirs, according to the statement.

In the future, the WRA said it would continue to carry out cloud seeding when weather conditions permit to improve rainfall and adopt more effective water-saving measures to meet the subsequent water demand in southern Taiwan, it said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel