![\"81155ae5fbd993b886f080cfcc2a08abu1\"](\"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/81155ae5fbd993b886f080cfcc2a08abu1.png\" "\\"81155ae5fbd993b886f080cfcc2a08abu1\\"")
\nRice fields in Taipei’s da’an district have dried up and cracked. Photograph: Taiwan Media<\/p>\n
Rainfall in the western part of the island has hit a 75-year low this winter, triggering water shortages in many places. Some media said that Taiwan is facing a serious shortage of rainfall, the most affected areas\u201cIs the most advanced TSMC wafer plant where.\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nRice fields in Taipei’s da’an district have dried up and cracked. Photograph: Taiwan Media<\/p>\n
Having to divert water from agriculture<\/p>\n
Taiwan is facing severe water challenges as global demand for semiconductors continues to soar. Taiwan’s China Times said on March 29 that precipitation in Western Taiwan this winter (December 2025 to February 2026) was only 24.3 millimeters, far less than Taiwan’s 158.4 millimeters, it also recorded the lowest winter rainfall in the west in 75 years.<\/p>\n
The water shortage is not only affecting the island’s agriculture, but also the semiconductor industry. Taiwan has been suffering from a water shortage in recent years as the development of artificial intelligence semiconductors requires huge amounts of water to clean wafers, according to a survey by local media. Many domestic and foreign media have reported that if the water shortage can not be solved, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry faces a serious test in the future.<\/p>\n
Taiwan’s online media\u201cWind Media\u201d said on the 30th that key areas including Hsinchu, where TSMC has an advanced wafer fabrication plant, are under particularly severe water pressure and have been classified as\u201cYellow Alert\u201d. Compared with other regions, the water shortage in these areas is even more obvious. On the 29th, real-time water information from Taiwan’s\u201cWater Resources Department\u201d showed that the water supply pressure in the north, Central and south three districts continued to rise. Among them, the water storage rate of Baoshao second reservoir, which is crucial for the water consumption of Hsinchu Science and industrial park, has dropped to 23.0% , mingde reservoir, liyutan reservoir and Wushe reservoir in Central District have also fallen below the 30% warning line, and the Jiji Weir has only 3.8% water left. The situation in the south is no better. The storage rate of the benchmark Zengwen reservoir has dropped to 25.6% , while that of the Renyitan Dam is only 28.6% and that of the Agongdian Reservoir is hovering at 30.1% .<\/p>\n
The island’s industrial water supply is not in danger of being disrupted, local authorities are promoting anti-drought measures to ensure semiconductor production is not affected, and water-intensive industries are being required to use water more efficiently, Taiwan media said, better use of resources. However, this has led many farmers to complain that the authorities are\u201cFavouring industry over agriculture\u201d.<\/p>\n
Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture has launched a pilot program to promote systematic water-saving in agriculture in the Touqian Creek irrigation area in Hsinchu, Chinanews.com reported. Farmers in Hsinchu went to the Ministry of Agriculture on Sunday to protest against the plan, saying that water would be cut off on the 17th and 18th, \u201cThe practice of stopping irrigation in the name of the pilot scheme not only leads to poor communication, but also makes the Ministry of Agriculture a fraud unit for farmers,\u201d he said. The farmers questioned whether agriculture was being sacrificed to ensure water use in the science park. Wang Chih-wen, chairman of the Harvest Association of Taiwan, said that no matter whether it was a past drought or the current drought, the farmers had to bear the brunt of the unfortunate events, which made people wonder\u201cWhere on earth did the water go?\u201d Should farmers continue to be sacrificed to ensure that water is available in science parks? They want the Ministry of Agriculture to face up to the normalisation of extreme weather and take concrete action, rather than simply cutting off water and giving subsidies perfunctory.<\/p>\n
Extreme weather events may occur in the future<\/p>\n
As of March 24, reservoirs in Miaozhu (Miaoli and Xinzhu) were filling up at less than 40% of capacity. Taiwan’s United News Network said that since the beginning of the year, the rainfall has not been obvious, and the water level of the sun-moon Lake has continued to drop. The nine frog sculptures that can judge the water level have all been exposed since mid-february, and have not been able to dive into the lake so far, at present, the water level of Sun Moon Lake has dropped to 742.46 meters above sea level, which is below 743 meters (the safe water level is 740 meters) . The rope across the side of the\u201cUniversity Pool\u201d, the target attraction of Xitou Nature Education Park, should have been in the water, but now it is all out of the water due to poor water conditions.<\/p>\n
Agriculture in many areas has been affected. Zeng Yixiao, general secretary of the Miaoli Tongluo Township Farmers’ Association, said that there were obvious signs of water shortage in tea plantations, with some tea trees showing curly leaves, and the situation in mountain tea plantations was even more serious. If there is no rain for a long time, the harvest will not only be delayed, it can also cause yield losses or even blight, which requires replanting and is estimated to take 2 to 3 years to recover. In other words, water scarcity doesn’t just affect current harvests, but also future harvests.<\/p>\n
Kaohsiung farmers say the water shortage is not only a problem in the central region, but is also gradually affecting the southern region. Take the plums they grow for example. If there is not enough rainfall, the plums are prone to fall off during the growing period, as a result, the fruit is too small and looks bad, and the plum tree, just like the tea tree, needs to be replanted if it wilts due to continuous water shortage, and the time may be extended to five or six years before it can recover.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina Times\u201d 30, said the island in the south-central have been spreading crop disaster. Among them, Yunlin Gukeng caoling tea area damaged more than 40% , Jiayi County, after the tea, high after the start of natural disaster pear disaster relief, but also heard Litchi flowering situation is poor; Tainan and Kaohsiung also suffered from low fruiting rates due to drought. According to the report, Taichung is an important lychee producing area in Taiwan, mainly in Wufeng and Dali. Lai Dongyang, director-general of the Dali Farmers’ Association, said that the flowering rate of glutinous lychee in Taichung is poor, and the estimated fruiting rate is only 10% . The estimated fruiting rate of black leaf lychee is 50% to 60% , but if the water shortage continues, the fruiting rate may decline again. Liao Yongshu, the village head of zhanghu, who has been growing tea for more than 40 years, laments that this year’s drought has been so rare that three months of water-carrying irrigation has had limited effect, leaving him with no spring tea to harvest and, in some cases, dead leaves. According to the report, Liao Yongshu was able to harvest 6,000 to 7,000 kilograms of green tea per hectare, but only 3,000 kilograms remained this year.<\/p>\n
On the 29th, Chen Shenxian, an island water conservancy expert and former\u201cWater Conservancy Director,\u201d analyzed that this year is the\u201cYear of the Nativity.\u201d According to historical experience, the location of typhoon generation is likely to change, and last year, the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean temperatures absorbed too much heat, resulting in a serious imbalance in the global allocation of water in time and space. He said that at present, the rainy season has not yet been reported, the water situation in central and southern Taiwan has already shown a red light, and the signs of drought are obvious. In the future, there will most likely be an extreme situation of\u201cTurning drought relief into flood prevention.\u201d The government and the people should make double preparations in advance.<\/p>\n
The semiconductor industry as a whole<\/p>\n
Regarding the water shortage, Taiwan’s\u201cEconomy Minister\u201d Gong Mingxin on the 26th argued that\u201cForward-looking infrastructure construction\u201d has increased daily water supply by 2.63 million tons since 2017, another 1.2 million tonnes a day is expected by 2031. With this approach, companies will not be short of water. The island denounces the DPP authorities for always saying that there is no shortage of anything, but the\u201cFive shortages\u201d of enterprises (lack of water, lack of electricity, lack of land, lack of workers, and lack of talent) not only have not been reduced, on the contrary, they are falling into more and more serious difficulties.<\/p>\n
As well as water, Taiwan’s industrial production is also facing problems such as the disruption of imports of liquefied natural gas caused by the conflict in the Middle East. A worsening shortage of water or liquefied natural gas could affect not only TSMC’s operations, but also other companies throughout Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain, according to Canadian technology publication Wccftech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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