:::

Water Environments Improvement

Origin

“Water and Environment- National Plan for Water Environments Improvement” was approved by the Executive Yuan on July 10th, 2017. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, the lead agency, is responsible for coordinating and integrating resources from different agencies to optimize the results. The Ministry proactively controls and cleans water as well as increases water accessibility by integrating ecological conservation, water quality improvement, and landscape improvement into the project. These efforts all aim to revitalize river eco-system and create sustainable and accessible water environments to enable the harmonious co-existence of human and water and charming water environments. Scope of the plan includes:

  • Integrating water environments improvement projects, including ecological conservation, water environments improvement for water quality and surrounding landscapes, on-site treatment for sewage, water interception, and water environments restoration
  • Cleaning rivers, providing support to highlighted river sections, engaging civil groups to restore river ecologies and create accessible and sustainable water environments.
  • Establishing a platform to demonstrate the results and achievements of water environment improvement projects to increase public participation and disclose public information.
the MOENV is executing the national plan to improve water environments
the MOENV is executing the national plan to improve water environments

The “Forward-looking Infrastructure Plan” includes: railways, urban-rural development, water environments, digital infrastructure, green energy, food safety and human resources development for employment, childcare facilities improvement in response to low birth rate; the water environments can be further broken down into water and development, water and security, and water and environments. The cases that EPA are responsible for fall within the scope of water and environments, mainly the improvement of the oval water environments of the country.

Implementation

the MOENV, in 2018, in line with the national plan to improve water environments under the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Development Program proposed by the Executive Yuan, started to subsidize local governments to build gravel contact beds, implement natural aeration methods, and enhance sewage interception to improve water quality for medium-polluted rivers or for sewage systems that were not or would not connect to household sewage systems in the short term. As of June in 2019, the Ministry of Economic Affairs have approved subsidies offered by the MOENV (Batches 1, 2, and 3) for a total of 71 projects, which were estimated to treat more than 260,000 tons of water and create more than 131.2 hectares of waterfront spaces. the MOENV has worked with local governments to remove wastes from rivers a well as strengthen the inspection and monitoring of water quality in target areas to encourage and attract people to enjoy their time in these waterfront spaces.

How does the MOENV improve water environments?
How does the MOENV improve water environments?

EPA is going to improve water environment with the following efforts: constructed wetlands, gravel filters, wastes disposal, water quality monitoring, and inspection and control.

Results

As of the end of June in 2019, a total of 9 water environment improvement projects, including those for Liming Canal in Taichung City (Fig.1.), left bank of Toucian River in Hsinchu City, Sihfanglin Drainage in Taoyuan City (Fig.2.), and Ai River in Kaohsiung City, had been completed. These projects have created 44.4 hectares of waterfront spaces with a daily water treatment capacity of 71,900 tons. Projects executed in cooperation with local governments include the landscape and water environments improvement of the left bank of the Toucian River in Hsinchu City, water purification for Sihfanglin Drainage in Taoyuan City, and water environments improvement of Liming Canal in Taichung. These three projects won the Waterfront Landscape Award, Purification Award, and Private-Public Synergy Award in the 2019 Water Environments Contest, respectively.

Liming Canal Water Environment Improvement Project, Taichung City (2019 Water Environments Contest - Private-Public Synergy Award)
Liming Canal Water Environment Improvement Project, Taichung City (2019 Water Environments Contest - Private-Public Synergy Award)
Sihfanglin Drainage in Taoyuan City (2019 Water Environments Contest - Purification Award)
Sihfanglin Drainage in Taoyuan City (2019 Water Environments Contest - Purification Award)

In 2019, water environments improvement projects were promoted in 13 counties and cities in Taiwan. The scope of project includes monitoring water quality along the upstream and downstream of medium-polluted rivers, and items monitored include flow amount, pH value, dissolved oxygen, suspended solids, BOD, ammonia nitrogen, CFU of E. coli, and heavy metals. The number of inspection stations must be more than 200 to assess the effectiveness of the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Development Program and prevent water quality from being affected by construction projects. A total of 13 cities and counties were provided with subsidies for water environments improvement projects, including removing wastes from rivers or drainages manually or using band screens and skimmer boats. A total of 6,199.2 tons of wastes were removed in 2018. A total of 62,384.9 tons of wastes were removed from rivers between January and June in 2019. the MOENV has continued to subsidize local governments to protect water environments.

Rivers after waste removal in different cities and ounties
Rivers after waste removal in different cities and ounties
Rivers after waste removal in different cities and ounties, two pictures.