Taoyuan’s Shihmen Reservoir has dipped to a critical low of 17.1% and could run dry by the end of the month. Taoyuan’s mayor said Monday that water rationing will tighten for commercial users, such as car wash businesses, which will be asked to reduce water consumption by 10%.

The earth is cracked and bone dry. With water levels on a steady decline, boats have been left stranded on bare ground.

As drought deepens south of Taichung, Northern Taiwan is seeing concerns of its own. Shihmen Reservoir, which supplies New Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, was at 17.1% capacity as of 9 a.m. Monday, with just 34.71 million cubic meters of water left. That’s the lowest level since 2002, when the reservoir fell to 10.8 million cubic meters. With the dam in its second-worst crisis in its 58-year history, officials say it’s at risk of running dry by the end of the month.

Cheng Wen-tsan
Taoyuan mayor
Currently Taoyuan supports Hsinchu by supplying 220,000 tons of water every day. Over this half year, we’ve already canceled two irrigation periods, so that our supply could last longer. We haven’t yet entered orange alert, but we’re adopting orange alert measures to increase water conservation to 10%.

Taoyuan is still under a yellow alert, meaning that water pressure is reduced all day long. But Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan says the municipality will launch orange-alert measures to increase water conservation.

Chang Chia-jung
Shimen Reservoir management center
The Central Weather Bureau forecasts that the plum rains will come to Taiwan in late May. If the rains arrive on time, it’ll go some way to turning around the water shortage.

The plum rains and summer typhoons may bring an end to the drought. But Taoyuan’s mayor warns that if the rains fail to deliver, much tighter rationing may be in store.