Chinese Taipei Committee

The ICID – Chinese Taipei Committee (CTCID) joined ICID network in 1969 at the 20th International Executive Council Meeting held at Mexico City, Mexico. The objectives of the Committee are to undertake preparation for and implementation of the irrigation and drainage programme; to perform liaison service among the agencies and with the ICID; to carry out assignment as entrusted by the Government, the ICID; to render advisory service to the delegation of the CTCID to meetings in connection with ICID etc. CTCID is achieving these objectives by organising studies, experiments and scientific surveys; disseminating advanced technology and knowledge by publishing literatures, reports, documents etc.; organizing conferences/ training programmes; and attending activities supported by ICID etc.

CTCID actively participates in various technical activities of ICID and leads some of them. CTCID also provided funding support for ICID publications and organized various technical courses/ training programmes as part of the exchange of knowledge.

CTCID is located in an island region with total area of 36,000 Sq.Km, of which approximately 70% is covered by mountains which runs along the central region from north to south and thus forming a ridge for the east- and west-bound rivers and the rest 30% is plains with the elevation of 100 m or less. The population of the region is 24 million (2019) which is equivalent to about 0.3% of the total world population, with population density of 671 per Sq.Km. There are altogether 151 rivers in the region, but only nine of them possess a basin area exceeding 1,000 Sq.Km. Broad features of the region are given below briefly.

Land use

Three major land cover classes are forest (60% of land area in 1904), agricultural land (23% of land area in 1904) and grassland (12% of land area in 1904), which undergo wide variation during three distinct periods – 1904 to 1950, 1951 to 1995 and 1996-2015. The agricultural land increased from 23% to 34% in 1956. Between 1951 and 1995, the portion of built-up land increased sharply at the cost of agricultural and forested land in the vicinity of larger cities. However, the loss of forest was in turn compensated by the afforestation of grasslands. In the third period, from 1996 to 2015, 10% of the land was built-up and forested land gradually recovered to reach a peak at 67% in 2010.

Climate and rainfall

Overlying both subtropical and tropical oceanic zones and situated in the Asian monsoon region, the region features warm climate and the annual average temperature in the plain areas is as high as 22-24^oC; even the lowest temperature in a year stays above 10^oC. The rainfall in the region is approximately 2,500 mm, annually. There have been huge differences of rainfall distributions among seasons, with the highest annual total rainfall of 3,250 mm, and the lowest 1,600 mm. The region is located in the subtropical zone; most of the island enjoys hot and rainy climate throughout summer and autumn but becomes rather arid and dry from winter to spring.

Food and agriculture

The total agriculture and food production of the region is about 6.9 million tons per year from roughly 0.8 Mha of arable land. The average yearly production of each agricultural category and the respective size of cultivated areas are: Rice: 1,732,000 tons, 168,000 ha; Coarse Grain: 492,000 tons, 70,000 ha; Special Crops: 601,000 tons, 32,000 ha; Fruits: 2.7 million tons, 185,000 ha; Vegetables: 2,823,000 tons, 146,000 ha.

Water resources management

Inspite of high rainfall, the special geographical conditions, steep terrain and the uneven spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall make only 18% usable runoff. The water availability for each person is only about 4,074 m³. Since 1993, water resource development plans have met with strong resistance due to the growing attention to environmental concerns. Therefore, the water resources that supply the needs in the region depend crucially on the reservoirs built, at least, more than twenty years ago. The water supply and demand in the region varies according to wet and dry years. The water that cannot be used account for 16.5% while the remaining is river runoff and groundwater infiltration, which amounts to approximately 83.5%. Theoretically speaking, all the remaining water resources can be used. But the rivers are short and the stream flows rapidly, coupled with intensive rainfall and the lower capacity of saving water, thus most of the rainfall flows into the ocean.

Irrigation and drainage

Irrigation development has directly and/or indirectly contributed to the agricultural production and thereby village livelihood. It has also substantially contributed to the cycle of water resources and protection of ecological environment. Irrigation Associations are the main managing agencies for irrigation development. Currently, there are 17 Irrigation Associations in the region covering 370,000 ha of irrigated area.

Water policies

Water policy is not only related to the well-being of the people’s livelihood, but also involves the land planning, water and soil conservation, and the problem of environmental protection in the overall development of the region’s economic development. In the future, the stress is to provide good quality and quantity of water resources, shape the clean and pleasant hydrophilic environment, serve people positively, procure an organization of water conservancy with high efficiency, and attaching great importance to the rights and interest of citizens with reasonable and effective allocation of water and soil resources. For achieving these objectives, there will be need to strengthen the government departments, proper the human resource management to make full use of professional manpower, changing the water law and relevant regulations, and raise funds for water conservancy construction as along with proper water conservancy project planning.

ICID and Committee

Mr. Kuang-Ming Chuang is the President of the Committee and can be contacted at ctcid@triwra.org.tw.