Taiwan 2002

		Environmental Protection
		Water Resources Most of Taiwan's rivers and coastal waters have long been seriously polluted. Urban communities are major culprits, primarily because of the island's long-term inaction to develop a comprehensive 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 7.1 percent--far behind most East Asian countries. Even in Taipei City, where the ROC government began building a sewage system in 1972, only 317,752 households (36 percent) had been connected by the end of 2000. Thus, the cities of Taiwan urgently need to build adequate sewage systems in order to stem water pollution. There are 27 rivers administrated by the central government, 91 rivers administrated by the prefectural governments, and 11 drainage rivers in the Taiwan area. As of 2000, there were 290 river and stream water quality sampling stations and 146 ocean water quality sampling locations in Taiwan Province. Thirty-two river water quality sampling stations have been set up in Taipei's Tamsui River 淡水河 basin alone. Environmental protection agencies have regularly monitored the water quality of central and prefectural rivers, measuring levels of dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, ammonia nitrogen, and other parameters. According to the EPA, 36 percent of Taiwan's central rivers and 35 percent of its prefectural rivers are polluted to some degree, with the Peikang River 北港溪 topping the list of the 50 most heavily polluted rivers. Industrial wastewater and waste are the main pollutants. To more effectively control water pollution, the EPA in May 1991 promulgated amendments to the Water Pollution Control Act 水污染防治法, stipulating daily fines of between US$2,000 and US$20,000 for polluting water. In wastewater management, sludge inspection has been promoted to ensure the routine operation of the wastewater infrastructure. Furthermore, the EPA renewed the Integrated Environmental Protection Project for River Basins 流域整體性環保計畫 for fiscal years 1995 through 2000 and allocated a total of US$26.2 million to dredge ten primary rivers. Regarding the problem of wastewater discharged from industrial parks, the EPA is instituting grading and classification management measures at 40 industrial parks with unified wastewater treatment facilities. Under the current EPA plan, there will initially be three grades, and those parks graded as poor will be listed as major producers subject to audit at any time. This measure will become a new index for managing industrial parks in the future. Since the oil spill caused by the Greek tanker MV Amorgos in January 2001, the EPA has worked to formulate the Emergency Response Plan for Severe Marine Oil Pollution 重大海洋油污染緊急應變計畫 in the shortest time possible. The plan sets out a definition for severe marine pollution incidents and establishes a notification system, a monitoring-command structure, and relevant working procedures. After receiving Executive Yuan approval in April 2001, this plan became the basis for mobilizing government agencies when responding to severe marine pollution incidents. There are 40 reservoirs in the Taiwan area, and the water quality at 20 primary reservoirs is regularly monitored. In 1999, seven of the 20 primary reservoirs were heavily polluted and eutrophic. The Fengshan Reservoir 鳳山水庫 and the Cheng Ching Lake Reservoir 澄清湖水庫 have been considered heavily polluted for two consecutive years. The Techi Reservoir 德基水庫 has the best water quality. 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 經濟部 (MOEA) plans to add nine 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 水資源開發保育回饋條例, which established an incentive fund for residents near new reservoirs. Furthermore, the MOEA implemented 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. Condition of Taiwan's Central and Prefectural Rivers   Central Prefectural   km % km % Unpolluted 1,434 64 414 65 Lightly Polluted 263 11 81 13 Moderately Polluted 265 12 82 13 Heavily Polluted 296 13 57 9 Total 2,258 100 634 100 Source: Environmental Protection Administration, 2000 Land Subsidence Lured by profits, many farmers in the coastal areas of Yunlin 雲林, Changhua 彰化, Pingtung 屏東, Chiayi 嘉義, and Ilan 宜蘭 have expanded into aquaculture. As a result, aquaculturalists have dug 170,000 illegal wells and pumped out excessive amounts of precious groundwater because it is cheap and stable in temperature. In addition to being used in aquaculture, groundwater is also being 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 Taiwan's southwestern coast and on the Ilan Plain 宜蘭平原. Overall, almost 865 square kilometers of Taiwan's plains, or a full 8 percent, have subsided. The most serious subsidence has occurred around Chiatung 佳冬 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 5 and 15 centimeters per year. In November 1995, the Executive Yuan's Council of Agriculture 行政院農業委員會 passed a land subsidence control program drawn up jointly with the MOEA. This program allotted for US$56 million to be spent from July 1995 to June 2000 to control land subsidence in seven counties and cities. Copyright (C) July 2002, Government Information Office.   All rights reserved.   Site design by L.F. Lee Best viewed with Netscape 4.x or IE 5.x (medium font) at 800 x 600 True Color (32 bit) resolution