There has been a lot of talk about how cheap water is in Taiwan, among the contributors to drought.
I just learned that in the United States, water consumption is heavily subsidized, and large regions of the country are experiencing droughts too. A lot of American water is contaminated. It’s more pronounced in Taiwan because the electronics companies gobble so much.
My water bill is included in my condo fees and isn’t variable.
I just listened to a podcast interview of Seth Siegel, an American who wrote about Israel’s water miracle. He said that in Israel, water is distributed in some quasi-capitalist fashion. It costs about $.60 more per month than it does in the United States. This insures more efficient allocation of water resources.
Israel invented desalination, and I wonder why Taiwan doesn’t do it, when it’s surrounded by water. It’s not scarce.
But from what I’ve watched of Taiwanese shows, desalination is the most expensive option and is seen as a last resort.
But since Taiwanese are masters at cost-cutting, surely they will eventually make desalination a viable choice.
It is energy intensive and there is already a pollution/energy problem here. They need to solve the clean energy problem first, then can consider desalination.
It is estimated that “despite its high annual rainfall, Taiwan is only able to use 20% of it as a water resource, making it in the 18th place under the UN global ranking in terms of water resource poor region” (sic)
Given that food, water and energy security are critical to the maintenance of a civilized society, and it does not take a rocket scientist to deduce that water shortages are a Taiwanese weak point in the event of a blockade - why isn’t Taiwan doing more to ensure the security and continuity of its water supply in the event of war?
While better utilization and capture of rainfall would help, ultimately the only way to guarantee water and energy security is via desalination, powered by nuclear power.
This ensures that the energy supply is independent of hydrocarbon imports, and the desalination plants may keep on running in the event of a blockade.
People have been asking that question for ages now. It is quite amazing. There is effort put in now, but most probably agree way too little waaaaay too late!
aside from water catchment, there is quite a lot of water contamination here as well. Which means more reliance on various infrastructure (treatment, delivery, home filtration etc).
Anything from Chiayi southwards is dry - and the mountains are dry too. But if you looked at the waterstat website this was in the coming long time already.
The biggest water reservoir down south - Zengwen has been pretty empty already 2 months ago…
Same problem as ever - Taiwan desperately needs a water pipeline down South. Up to end of January it was raining all the time in the North - while the South has been dry since end October. So if there were a pipeline - end of January all of the reservoirs could have still been full. And that would be easily enough for the South to get to the rain which will come sometimes in May…
BTW - the mountains are dry too. I wanted to go hiking the holy ridge - but looks like that would mean to carry water up for 3-4 days as all the ponds/water supplies/springs have dried out - canisters in huts are empty…
Seems like most overnight hiking on the high mountains will be over soon until substantial rain arrives.
I mean in Taichung it still rained from time to time until start of February - but by now when you hike it’s so dusty in some areas it really makes sense to wear a mask or keep 1 minute distance to the person in front of you…
Mountainbiking behind someone else I don’t even want to talk about…
Unlike 2 years ago however this time the center of Taiwan will make it to the rainy season - most of the important reservoirs are still 60-70% full.
Not just the government, but society as a whole. At least in my limited timeline have seen a couple decades of degrading Fs given overall. government still corrupt and inept, the people still entitled and whining. no one really working working together it seems. just lack of foresight, lack of development and lack of conservation.
already the gov started the slow suicide if cutting off subsidies to certain farmers due to water issues (rice farming) for a few years. which is a ballsy move. they have been researching and developing (and actually developing decent genetics)for crops that are less water intensive. but gosh darn is it painfully to watch such little.being.done. each year gets drier and.hotter, wonders longer and stronger.
this is not what a wet february in the easy would look like ina newish planting of rice…
now back to my fields, less farmers to fight with after midnight. and I normally only open irrigation twice a year because we design farms around water conservation and the assumption Taiwan is fucked. seen a couple actual physical fights just this month already about opening and closing sluice gates. it’s only march.
IF** we even.get a plum rain this year, I hope it is a good one. but then the constant top soil erosion,. compaction and water table compaction/contamination…I am convinced people just dont give a fuck anymore. give it all to the factories and just rely on imports full stop in a decade. Seriously losing faith in peoples awareness and.basic science educations
oh ya, 2 fires this year just on our dry and crispy lands.
edit. riverbed in the east, about 1km across. as normal, drier in winter. but this is a spot we go to observe Neocardinia shrimp year round. these 2 days, searching 20km of river we found zero. all dried up.
Wishing your farming the best.
From what is happening to California, a region only needs one seasonal deluge of rain to correct/reverse a decade or more of drought conditions. Taiwan’s time will come, too.
Sorry, there’s barely enough electricity as it is. Government is too anti nuclear, otherwise we’d be able to use the waste heat from nuclear for desalination.
Only country in the world that is pro nuclear is China. The entire western world is anti nuclear, because the fossil fuel industry still have a lot of pull.
That’s really a huge thing. Gonna be a big hit too. How do fight global warming? Right there.
I was watching a 60 Minutes feature on Taiwan and they mentioned chips and frakenplants in the same breath when asked what does Taiwan bring to Asia and the world’s table. Didn’t Taiwan make a glow in the dark pig once?
China has made a lot strides, so I had to check, but the US and France I know are still very much pro nuclear despite the public horseshit in the news.
