I~C~;~ Ellbeing of the People
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Sustainable Operation and Management of Water Resources in Taiwan : Visions and Strategies of Water Supply Development Shin-Shen Ho Project Research Scientist, Agricultural Engineering Research Center (AERC), Taiwan ABSTRACT An excel1ent water infrastructure is very important for the development of a society. The sound water supply services not only promote the wellbeing ofthe people but also have a good bearing on the issues of land planning, development and utilization of water resources, ~0i1 co?servatio~ an~ environmental protection. With rapid socioeconomic development and mcreasmg urbamzatIon, an efficient and clean public water supply system has become a vital part ofpublic works in Taiwan. With water supply reaching a high expansion stage, our water supply enterprise has entered into an era of advanced maintenance and management, and competent water quality and service. The rising population, growing economy, and boosting of national competency impose tremendous demand for ample and steady water supply that makes the development of water resources an ever-pressing undertaking. The new water quality standards are being implemented by different phases. The employment of cutting-edge water treatment systems will be a trend. In terms of internal management and functionality, our water supply services have the strength of a sound organizational structure and management control system, professional workforce, enhanced productivity, a stable market, and the abiHty to make cross-regional supply adjustment. But we have faced with the challenges of organizational inflexibility, aging workforce, lack of modern service concepts, inadequate water sources, antiquated equipment, rising costs and deteriorating financial integrity. In the face of many variables in the internal and external environments, water supply services should enhance the customer service by impregnating their employees with new service concepts, and draw up plans, measures and programs to meet the chal1enges and demands ahead, and present a new look ofhigh-efficiency in the new age. keywords : Sustainable Development, Water Resources, Water Supply 1. INTRODUCTION Water is an indispensable element of daily life,. It is also. an important part ~f natio~al economic planning and development. With rapid SOCioeconomIC development and. mtreastn~ urbanization an efficient and high quality public water syste~ has be~ome a vita part 0 public The water quality and supply capability have a on work~. dIre~t ~eanng f t~~eh~a;i~C~;~ ellbeing of the people. Thus the prevalence of water supp Y IS one 0 f . :enchmarks gauging the infrastructure, standard of living, and degree 0 economIC development. d I B 1945 ri ht before Taiwan was recovered from the han~s of Ja~an, a cru e SU?P y systen?'had ju~t t;ken shape with water supply facilities installed m all major t,ownsthantd citiels· , t as keen on the constructIons a wou d Subsequent to the restoratIOn, our governmen w "}' , , I ' I' l'h od particularly the development ofwater resources. FIrstly, faci ltles Improve peop e s Ive 1 0 , d b equently damaged during the war were restored. Expansion projects went un erway su s . 705 Taipei became the capital of the government of the Republic of China in 1949 when the oce Chinese Communist Party took over the mainland. The government started to pursue the task oce ofnational build up, and the water supply enterprise in Taipei was the first to be taken over by the Bureau of Enterprise Management of Taipei City Government. However, the system mOl supplied only for the administrative regions of Taipei City in that time. In January, 1961, on 1 Taipei Water Works was renamed after Taipei Water City Works and became the first regional eas1 water supply enterprise in northern Taiwan. At the end of 1976, Taipei City Government frae decided to establish a central agency in charge of the water supply enterprise. Therefore, a Dul reshuffle was made. The Taipei Water and Sewage Construction Committee was then ton dissolved; Taipei Area Water Engineering Corporation and Taipei Water Works were merged run into Taipei Water Department. The new department takes over the management ofthe original lane Taipei Water Works, and supplies water to the Great Taipei Metropolitan Area, including few inci cities and boroughs in Taipei County, such as Sanchung, Chungho, Yungho, Hsintien and feat Shihchi. It is the largest public water supply system in northern Taiwan. on1 Prior to 1974, the water operation and management system in Taiwan was under the jurisdiction of local governments on the levels of city, county, and town, while the provincial 2.3 one was managed' by the provincial water establishment. As a result, water supply developments tended to be overlapped, leading to redundancy and inefficiency. Thus the the provincial government began to centralize the water supply enterprise in 1974. With the terr convergence of manpower and funds, the provincial government was able to speed up the ob, development of water works and set out the long-range and mid-range development plans. In No the meantime, the Taipei City Government launched phase 3 and phase 4 expansion plans to bre meet the pressing demands for water supply. In offshore islands, Kinmen had a water works set up in 1966 to take charge of the construction and operation of water supply facilities in that area. Groundwater purification plant, underground water supply station, and piping of the water supply system were also undertaken subsequently. With scarce water resources, Kinmen suffers from water shortage 2.~ almost every year. Thus the development of water sources is an urgent task for that region. The water supply development in Matsu island began in 1973. The local government completed the construction of few small-scale reservoirs under the subsidy of central bi: government to supply water to the local residents and military establishments there. However, TI the supply has been very limited. su 1( n: 2. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF TAIWAN T 2.1 Geography Taiwan (Republic of China) is an island located at 119°18'03/1E 124°34'30/lE, and 21°45'25"N to 25°56'30"N, with the Pacific Ocean on its east side, and the Taiwan Strait on the west to separate Taiwan from Mainland China. l 2.2 Topography ( The Central Mountain extends from north to south as a backbone range of the island. Its 1 peak elevation reaches over 3,000 m. The Central Mountain is separated from the eastern Coastal Range by a long and narrow valley. However, the western Taiwan is an open plain. The land resources, as shown in Fig. 1, are rather limited in Taiwan. The total area ofTaiwan is 36,000 km2 (377km long and 142 km wide). Steep mountainous terrains with elevations above 1,000 m occupies about 32% ; hilly and terrace lands between 100 and 1,000 m 706 the occupies 3 1% ; and alluvial plains below 100 m 18k occupies the remaining 37% ofthe island area. by The. island of Taiwan is dominated by a folded em mo~ntam range composed of sedimentary rocks H, on Its western slope and metamorphic rocks on its 1al eastern slope. The rock strata are sheared mt fractured, rather weak, and severely weathered: ,a During rainy seasons, the great intensities of en torrential rains combined with high velocity ed runoffs render heavy erosion over this precipitous lal ~and surface. Furthermore, frequent earthquakes tw Increase the instability of slopes. These land ltd features as mentioned above have great influences on the socio-economic development ofTaiwan. 2.3 Climate Taiwan is ofsubt;opical island climate. Due to the influence of Mainland air currents, warm temperature, heavy rainfall and strong wind Fig.l Taiwan's land resources distribution obVIously occur in various seasons and areas. Northeast m~nsoo?s prev~iJ from October to March. Typhoons and thunderstorms have brought plentiful ramfall whIch used to cause floods and disasters. The average annual rainfall and evaporation are approximately 2,515 mm and 197 billion 3 m , respectively. The evaporation in Taiwan thrives due to the long duration of strong sunlight. 2.4 Hydrology The average annual runoff in Taiwan is approximately 68.8 billion m}, but it is only 15.4 billion m} (23%of the annual average) during drought seasons \from November to April). The average water use in Taiwan is approximately 18 billion m for the last decade, from 3 surface and groundwater that are 12 and 6 billion m , respectively. Groundwater resources are abundant in plain regions. Total plain area is approximately 2 10,330 km , which is about 29% of Taiwan area. Regular annual groundwater discharge and 3 recharge volume during average years are approximately 5.8 and 5.05 billion m , respectively. The over-withdrawal for aquaculture has resulted in severe land subsidence. Appropriate control and management of groundwater utilization have been put into practice by concerned authorities. 2.5 Rivers There are 129 named rivers in Taiwan. Most ofthem are short and steep in their mid- and up-stream reaches and heavily loaded with silts. Their flows become torrential and muddy during storm periods. There are only 7 streams longer than 90 km, yet 95 are shorter than 30 km. 92% among 60 larger streams have channel gradient steeper than 11100. Streamflows are much lower in winter and spring seasons than in summer periods. Shortage of water usually occurs each year during February to May, especially in the southern plain of the island. However, floods often occur in the meanders at lower reaches. 707 2.6 Population Population is one of the essential elements of a nation. The demographic characteristics are closely related to the strength and socioeconomic prosperity of that country. The population of Taiwan was 22,276,672 at the end of 2000, and the estimated population in 2036 will be around 25,200,000.