Water Resources - Government Report

Many of Taiwan's rivers and coastal waters have been seriously polluted. Urban communities are major culprits, mainly because of the island's failure to develop its sewage system. Most industrial, agricultural, and residential wastewater drains directly into rivers, seriously polluting the water downstream. According to the EPA, most advanced nations have completed 95 percent of their sewage systems, while Taiwan has built only 4.78 percent -- far behind most East Asian countries, and even some African countries. Even in Taipei City, where the ROC government began building a sewage system in 1972, only 240,000 households (33.22 percent) had been connected by April 1998. The cities of Taiwan thus urgently need to build adequate sewage systems in order to stem water pollution.

There are 21 primary, 29 secondary, and 79 ordinary rivers in the Taiwan area. As of 1998, there were 356 river and stream water quality sampling stations and 50 ocean water quality sampling stations in Taiwan Province. Thirty-four river water quality sampling stations have been set up in Taipei's Tamsui river basin alone. Environmental protection agencies have regularly monitored the water quality of primary and secondary rivers, measuring levels of dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, ammonia nitrogen, and some other parameters. According to the EPA, 33.8 percent of primary and secondary rivers are polluted to various degrees, and the Peikang River tops the list of the 11 rivers that are most heavily polluted downstream. Industrial wastewater and waste are the main pollutants. (See Table 1.)

To more effectively control water pollution, the EPA in May 1991 promulgated amendments to the Water Pollution Control Act that stipulate daily fines of between US$2,000 and US$20,000 for polluting water. July 1994 saw the enactment of two major water pollution laws: the Oceanic Effluent Standards and the Supervisory Guidelines for Industrial Wastewater Pollution Control Measures and Urban Effluent Discharge. Furthermore, the EPA renewed the Integrated Environmental Protection Project for River Basins for fiscal years 1996 through 2001, and allocated nearly US$5.5 million to dredge ten primary rivers in fiscal 1998. The Taiwan Provincial Government's Department of Environmental Protection drew up a pollution treatment program for river basins in July 1995 and budgeted US$1.44 billion to manage pollution control in the Kaoping River and the Tungkang River. Thirty river-quality monitoring stations have already been set up on these two rivers to take monthly measurements.

There are 40 reservoirs in the Taiwan area, and the water quality at 20 primary reservoirs is regularly monitored. In 1994, 12 of the 20 primary reservoirs were heavily polluted and eutrophic. However, the EPA's June 1996 "Report on Water Quality at Taiwan's Reservoirs" indicates that the situation at eight of the heavily polluted reservoirs has improved, going from eutrophic to dystrophic. The following three reservoirs remained heavily polluted for two consecutive years: Akungtien Reservoir, Fengshan Reservoir, and Cheng Ching Lake Reservoir. The Sun Moon Lake Reservoir and the Feitsui Reservoir had the best water quality, while the Fengshan Reservoir suffered most heavily from pollution due to livestock.

The development of industrial zones, golf courses, and real estate presents yet another challenge. Mountain deforestation has severely damaged watersheds. Soil in upstream areas is washed away, turning into silt and filling the reservoirs downstream, thereby reducing both the quantity and quality of water available for use. There seems to be no easy remedy for such upstream pollution beyond spending more money on downstream water cleanup or finding new water sources.

With this in mind, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) plans to add 9 new reservoirs to the island's current 40. However, environmentalists worry about environmental degradation resulting from reservoir construction, and reservoir proposals almost always provoke public protest. To win over the public, the MOEA in April 1996 drafted the Water Resource Development and Conservation Incentive Regulations, which establish an incentive fund for residents near new reservoirs. Furthermore, the MOEA and Taiwan Provincial Government's Department of Water Conservancy will jointly implement a five-year, US$1.55 billion integrated reservoir conservation program to clean up 38 reservoirs in the Taiwan area between 1997 and 2001. The EPA has also provided funds for local governments to carry out reservoir pollution control programs.

Lured by profits, many farmers in the coastal areas of Yunlin, Changhua, Pingtung, Chiayi, and Ilan have expanded into aquaculture. Aquaculturalists have dug 170,000 illegal wells and pumped excessive amounts of groundwater, because it is cheap and stable in temperature. In addition to being used in aquaculture, groundwater is also pumped for industrial, residential, and standard agricultural uses. Recent data shows that while 5.94 billion cubic meters of groundwater is being pumped annually, only four billion cubic meters is being replaced. This deficit has caused land in many areas to subside, especially along the southwestern coast and on the Ilan Plain. Overall, almost 865 square kilometers of Taiwan's plains, or a full 8 percent, tend to subside. The most serious subsidence has occurred around Chiatung in Pingtung County, where sites have sunk by as much as 3.06 meters. The average rate of subsidence in the coastal areas is between five and 15 centimeters each year.

In November 1995, the Executive Yuan passed a land subsidence control program drawn up jointly by its Council of Agriculture and the MOEA. The program calls for US$56 million to be spent from July 1995 to June 2000 to control land subsidence in seven counties and cities. Efforts in Yunlin, Chiayi, and Pingtung will be given the priority in the first two years.