Taipei, Nov. 11 (CNA) The government will help develop three man-made lakes in southern Taiwan over the next five years to exploit water resources, President Chen Shui-bian said Tuesday.
The three man-made lakes -- to be located in Tainan County, Yunlin County and on the border between Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties -- will conserve water resources for agricultural and household use, as well as be scenic destinations for tourists, Chen said.
Construction of the three artificial lakes will be jointly financed by the government and the private sector, with NT$24.2 billion (US$712 million) to be allocated from the government's "five-year, NT$500 billion" public construction project and another NT$36 billion (US$1.06 billion) to be raised from the private sector, Chen noted.
The president made the remarks in a speech at the opening of the Asian Regional Workshop on Sustainable Development of Water Resources, Management and Operations of Participatory Irrigation Organizations.
Building reservoirs or man-made lakes are the best way of conserving water during times of drought and are particularly needed in southern Taiwan where drought is common in the dry season every year, Chen said.
Citing the building of the Wushantou Reservoir in Tainan County and the Chianan Reservoir on the border of Tainan and Chiayi counties as an example, Chen said rice paddies on the Chianan Plain occupied less than 5,000 hectares before the two man-made lakes were built some three decades ago.
The rice paddies now take up some 15,000 hectares because of sufficient water provided by the two reservoirs, allowing the Chianan Plain to become the largest granary in Taiwan, Chen said.
The two reservoirs have also served as recreational destinations in southern Taiwan, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists and holiday-makers every year, he said.
However, the president said, water from the two major reservoirs does not meet the ever-increasing need for agriculture, domestic and industrial use. It is, therefore, urgent that the government act to build the three proposed man-made lakes.