Work begins on project to pipe water to Taiwan islet
WORK on a water pipeline between southeast China’s Fujian Province and Kinmen, a Taiwan islet, began yesterday.
Excavators began operating at Longhu reservoir on Jinjiang River, the source of the water-diversion project. Water will be stored at the reservoir before being pumped into the pipeline and sent to Kinmen, just a dozen kilometers away.
Tsai Chi-chao, director of the Kinmen water plant, said water has been a constant headache on the 153-square- kilometer island, especially with an increasing number of tourists.
“Most of the rain during typhoon season flows into the sea, and the underground water is far from enough for our residents,” he said.
Diverting water from the mainland river is the most economical and effective way to solve the problem, and the public is eager to see it happen, he added.
The project is costing 387.8 million yuan (US$62.46 million), with 128 million yuan paid by the mainland and the rest covered by Taiwan.
Construction on the mainland section is due to finish by October next year. It will provide 34,000 cubic meters a day via a 27.62-kilometer pipe. Fujian will be responsible for construction of the 11.68-kilometer section on the mainland, while Kinmen will build the 15.74-kilometer undersea section and the 0.2-kilometer section on the islet.
The price has been set at NT$9.86 (30 US cents) per cubic meter, slightly lower than the local water price.
Liu Wenru, mayor of Jinjiang City, pledged to protect the water source, enhance management of river, and ensure the quality of water supplied to the islet.
Kinmen is separated from Fujian by a narrow body of water.
Kinmen authorities put forward the proposal to divert water from Fujian in 1995. The mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation published a consensus on solving Kinmen’s water problem in June 2013.
“The water project will boost the development of the Kinmen island. It is a new example of how mainland and Taiwan can cooperate,” said Liu Ning, vice-minister of Water Resources.
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