Water Resources Bureau, Tainan City Government

 

   The formulation of water management policies and measures calls for systematic thinking, and needs to be carried out in an integrated manner. It must include ecological planning as a principle of river management, and requires forethought and planning that combines concepts pertaining to watershed systems, ecological environments, and adapting to the character of rivers. Hence, in conducting the integrated management of river basins, the Water Resources Bureau actively joins together efforts to strengthen river and reservoir dredging, enhance the conservation and management of soil and water for hillsides and sandbanks, and progress with storm sewer construction, with the goals of building a complete urban drainage system, ensuring the provision of an ample, high-quality and sustainable water supply, and reinforcing the conservation and management of water resources.

 

   In addition, the Water Resources Bureau carries out the construction of sewer and water purification facilities, to raise the quality of the living environment and increase the recycling of water for reuse. In regard to hydrologic monitoring, for preventing and responding to water-related hazards, the establishment of rapid response mechanisms in every district, and the next step of achieving mobile hydrologic monitoring both target at making Tainan into a flood-free city, thus enhancing the quality of life and competitiveness of our city.

 

   The Water Resources Bureau has drawn up its 2016 policy implementation program in concordance with the Executive Yuan’s 2016 policy implementation program, based upon Tainan City Government’s medium-term policy implementation plan and 2016 policy implementation framework, and matching the current conditions of municipal administration and the future needs of municipal development. The main objectives and focuses of this program are as follows:

 

1.Integrating city-wide flood-prevention facilities and incorporating them into the hydrologic monitoring system: (work achievements)

(1)Carrying out the maintenance of 62 district-drainage gauging stations in flood-prone areas of the city, to ensure that the stations properly perform their water-level monitoring function, and thus reinforce the city’s flood-prevention work.

(2)Promoting the establishment of autonomous flood-prevention communities, and strengthening the implementation of non-engineering flood-prevention measures, with the goal of enhancing the ongoing operation of 20 existing flood-prevention communities in 2016, so as to boost the effectiveness of autonomous anti-flood safeguards that have already been established at the community level.

(3)Integrating the planning, design and wider deployment of the monitoring system of the Water Resources Bureau’s Hydrologic Information Center, with a view to enhancing the bureau’s hydrologic monitoring system so that it can function more effectively as a tool for preventing and responding to floods in our city.

(4)Expanding the use of hydrologic information apps for inspection patrols within city boundaries, so that patrol staff can immediately transmit their inspection findings to places where they can be used to inform hazard-prevention response in a more timely and effective manner. Also, continuing to extend the use of apps for providing city residents with hazard-prevention information.

 

2.Implementing policies for the conservation and sustainable use of water resources: (work achievements)

(1)Actively carrying out water resources protection in areas   designated for protection of water quality and quantity, and accompanying this with active implementation of give-back provisions to ensure that people living in protection areas are appropriately compensated for consequential harm to their rights and interests.

(2)Conserving groundwater resources, allocating surface water resources, and encouraging fish farmers to use surface water for aquaculture, in order to ensure the reasonable and sustainable use of water resources.

(3)Following strategy for dealing with illegal wells by conducting inspection patrols to find and seal them. This is projected to result in the sealing of 200 illegal wells, and thereby reduce the volume of illegally extracted groundwater.

 

3.Reducing the threat of flooding in flood-prone areas: (work achievements)

(1)Launching various-stage river basin management projects in conjunction with the central government’s Comprehensive River Basin Management Plan; conducting comprehensive water control and river basin management planning and land acquisition; and carrying out emergency works for the widening of river bottlenecks and projects to meet other urgent needs, with the completion rate expected to reach 85%. This plan was launched in June 2014 and is projected to be completed at the end of 2019. In 2016, we expect to continue carrying out phase 1 of the Comprehensive River Basin Management Plan plus the survey and design, engineering work and land acquisition for all projects of phase 2.

(2)Bolstering regional drainage and small and mid-sized drainage and hydraulic engineering works, to keep all rivers and drainage free from obstruction, and thus ensure the safety of people’s property. This work is scheduled to start in January 2016, and is projected to reach 80% completion by the end of the year.

(3)Designing drainage protection for a 10-year recurrence interval as the basic standard for areas under municipal management, with a 25-year recurrence interval as the target for no overflow. For densely populated areas and the sites of important infrastructure, the targets are for a recurrence interval of 50-100 years and for the completion rate of flood-prevention facilities to rise to at least 25%. This work is scheduled to start in January 2016, and is projected to reach 70% completion by the end of the year.

 

4.Strengthening regional drainage dredging: (work achievements)

(1)Strengthening regional drainage and small and mid-sized drainage dredging works, with the projection of completing drainage work in 70 areas to smooth the flow of water along roughly 50 kilometers of stream and ditch.

(2)Carrying out the dismantling and removal of illegal oyster racks and stationary fishing nets, targeting coastal districts including Cigu, Jiangjun and Beimen Districts within the scope of regional drainage, in order to ensure that drainage canals can be kept at their optimum normal capacity for flood discharge. It is projected that clearance work will be completed on 13 drainage canals, covering a distance of roughly 25 kilometers.

 

5.Maintaining and managing flood-prevention facilities: (work achievements)

(1)Carrying out sluice gate and pumping station maintenance and management work, performing routine and annual maintenance to make sure that they function to best effect in preventing flooding, and ensuring that in flood periods they optimally fulfill their normal functions of protection from tidal surges and floods. Reinforcing safety inspections of hydraulic structures, and periodically dispatching personnel to conduct checks, checking pumping stations once a week during flood periods and twice a month during non-flood periods, and checking sluice gates twice a month during flood periods and once a month during non-flood periods.

(2)Projected to complete maintenance management of 48 pumping stations and maintenance work on 2,008 sluice gates.

(3)Projected to complete new construction of the Wunsian drainage pumping station in Rende District, the Kunshan pumping station in Yongkang District, and the Huazong pumping station in Syuejia District, and the renewal and repair of equipment of old sluice gates and pumping stations at four locations.

 

6.Strengthening supervisory management of slopeland, reinforcing soil and water conservation, and pushing on with work to protect coastal lagoons and sandbanks: (work achievements)

(1)Strengthening supervisory management of slopeland; conducting education, training and promotion guidance on soil and water conservation; setting restrictions on permitted use of slopeland, and dealing with use that exceeds restrictions; supervising and managing soil and water conservation plans; and executing debris flow and flood prevention projects. Projected to complete 500 meters of sandbank restoration, hold three education and promotion seminars on soil and water conservation, and finish examining and setting restrictions on use for 300 plots of land.

(2)Setting a mechanism for demarcating land into and out of the scope of slopeland, to promote the efficient use of Taiwan’s land resources.

(3)Strengthening informational guidance, warnings and evacuations prior to the occurrence of debris flows, monitoring to avoid secondary hazards during debris flows, and investigating causes after the occurrence of debris flows. Also, conducting debris-flow hazard-prevention drills, and helping communities to act for themselves in preventing debris flows, to reduce the occurrence and effects of such hazards.

(4)Undertaking beach and sandbank conservation projects along the coast, and helping remove silt from lagoons, to increase lagoons’ flood-detention capacity and protect their rich natural ecology. Also, raising the height and thickness of sandbanks, to establish a first line of defense for buffering coastal areas against storm surges whipped up by typhoons.

 

7.Actively constructing wastewater sewer infrastructure and improving the operational management of wastewater treatment facilities: (work achievements)

(1)Providing city residents with a healthy, high-quality living environment, and matching central government policy of actively constructing and opening sewerage infrastructure, with the goal of increasing the number of households connected to the sewer system to at least 115,000 by the end of 2016.

(2)Actively managing city-wide wastewater treatment facilities, improving their maintenance, carrying out functional upgrading and pipeline maintenance, and setting up a geographic information system (GIS) and evaluation system for wastewater sewers, to ensure that the city’s wastewater is treated effectively, and that it conforms to effluent regulations throughout the year.

(3)Employing all kinds of wastewater treatment techniques, and constructing wastewater treatment or interception facilities, to improve the quality of river water. Projected to operate water purification plants at six locations and construct a water purification facility at one other location.

(4)Improving the operation of water purification facilities, examining the operational efficacy of all water purification plants within the boundaries of municipal jurisdiction, and targeting 70% removal of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids (SS) and ammonia nitrogen from influent water, to fulfill the task of protecting water quality in the Jishuei River, the Yanshuei River, the Erren River, and other rivers and streams within the boundaries of Tainan City.

(5)Actively soliciting funds from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) by submitting proposals for the Lioucuo drainage planning scheme, the Yuenjin Port and Anshun Village drainage projects, and the Chaitougang River and other water purification works.

(6)Strengthening the interception of wastewater that is emitted along canal banks without being taken into pipes, and expanding the functions of Anping Water Recycling Center, bringing all canal pollution sources and domestic wastewater into the center for treatment.

(7)Assessing the incorporation of artificial wetland carbon sequestration into the EPA’s Low Carbon City program, to raise the city’s competitiveness.

(8)Employing various kinds of wastewater treatment techniques, and building wastewater treatment and interception facilities, to improve the water quality of rivers and streams.

 

8.Promoting water recycling and sewage sludge reuse, to put into practice a zero-waste policy: (work achievements)

(1)Based upon Tainan City being in a region that experiences seasonal shortages of water for industrial use, and in response to environmental issues, timeliness and difficulty encountered in developing new water sources, our policy aim is to recycle Anping wastewater treatment plant effluent, and plan to build a reverse osmosis (RO) water recycling plant with capacity to supply 50,000 tonnes of recycled water per day, to be provided for industrial use in the greater Tainan area, with a view to promoting private investment in factory establishment and promoting economic development.

(2)The Water Resources Bureau currently has four domestic wastewater treatment plants under its authority, at Anping, Huwei Liao, Guantian and Liouying, and is planning to build two more at Rende and Yongkang. Since these plants are producing a gradually increasing volume of sewage sludge, and since plans are being made to include the sludge from domestic sewage wastewater treatment plants as industrial waste, treatment cost is rising substantially. In response, the Water Resources Bureau is currently utilizing anaerobic digestion to recover a useful energy source from the sludge, and at the same time is carrying out a waste sludge reduction program, with plans for the turnkey construction of a sludge recycling facility in Tainan’s Beimen District. Planning is directed toward turning the waste into construction materials through a sintering process, and then creating marketing channels for it, thereby contributing to Tainan’s public coffers.

(3)Establishing a fee-charging system for wastewater treatment, in response to requests from some businesses to include domestic-like waste in the public sewer system.

(4)Providing public space in the Anping wastewater plant for the development of a photovoltaic power generation system, and installing smart meters, monitoring energy consumption, developing green energy, and achieving energy-saving and carbon-reduction goals.

 

9.Increasing the extent of storm sewers and strengthening their maintenance and management: (work achievements)

(1)To ensure better living and environmental quality for city residents, and reduce the occurrence of flooding, we will vigorously extend Tainan’s storm sewer system, conducting construction in accordance with the Tainan City Storm Sewer System Planning Report. In 2016, the prevalence ratio of storm sewer installation is projected to reach 62%, and in more densely populated areas the installation rate is projected to reach 80%.

(2)Maintaining the storm sewer system and conducting patrols to check its drainage functioning, to ensure vigilant precaution against flooding. From 2006 to 2013, clearing work was carried out on 337,933 meters of storm sewer in the Yonghua administrative district, and in 2016 this figure is projected to reach 505,000 meters.

(3)To build waterside-environment facilities, the Water Resources Bureau is putting full effort into greenifying rivers and streams, establishing waterside bike paths, and constructing the Shanhaizhen Greenway between the Yanshuei River estuary and Wushantou Reservoir. The Shanhaizhen Greenway uses the waterside corridor of the Chianan Canal to link together the historical and cultural green belt paths of the National Museum of Taiwan History, Taijiang National Park and Wushantou Reservoir. Complementing protection of Taijiang’s wetland, mangrove and other rich plant ecologies, increasing eco-education and eco-recreation activities, and spurring the development of Tijiang’s tourism industry, the 45-kilometer greenway is the first of its kind in Tainan, and also serves to connect other bikeways into an extensive network of bicycle paths.

 

10.Shaping a recreational waterside environment, and putting energy into building waterside bikeways: (work achievements)

(1)Creating an environment in which people can enjoy recreation close to water, at such locations as the Rende and Gangweigou flood detention ponds and the Jhusi waterside green corridor. In addition to completing work to clean and improve the quality of the water, it also involves large-scale tree planting and greenification, to enhance the ecological environment. It focuses on reshaping the green corridor environment along the Jhusi riverbank, and integrating it with Jhusi Temple and the nearby sports park and nooks of culture and the arts, to form it into a verdant urban stream where natural ecology combines with cultural and historic features, to provide city residents with a pleasant close-to-nature recreational space.

(2)Building waterside bikeways and the Shanhaizhen Greenway, using the waterside corridor of the Chianan Canal to link together the historical and cultural green belt paths of the National Museum of Taiwan History, Taijiang National Park and Wushantou Reservoir, and while complementing protection of Taijiang’s wetland, mangrove and other rich plant ecologies, increasing eco-education and eco-recreation activities, spurring the development of Tijiang’s tourism industry, and forming a 45-kilometer greenway that is the first of its kind in Tainan. Also pushing on with building the 35-kilometer bikeway network that takes in the Gold Coast and two museums, and the 65-kilometer waterside bikeway network.

 

11.Raising the quality and efficiency of services for the public: (administrative efficiency)

(1)Arranging work-related lectures and classes, to enhance staff members’ abilities for carrying out their duties. It is projected that 12 such lectures and classes will be arranged in 2016.

(2)Recruiting volunteers to spread the call against drawing out groundwater, to avoid the land subsidence and attendant harms that it causes, and at the same time raise the efficacy of services for the public. In 2016, we expect to hold two explanatory meetings for promoting and guiding efforts to prevent land subsidence.

(3)Strengthening guidance and public information on applying to conduct development activities on slopeland (3 education and training events, 6 community guidance events, and 7 campus guidance events), on the dismantling and removal of illegal oyster racks, and on the execution of action against illegal wells, to ensure a safe homeland and prevent endangerment to life and property.

 

12.Raising the quality of human resources, and putting into practice the  ideal of lifelong learning: (organizational learning)

Reinforcing the idea of lifelong learning among staff of the Water Resources Bureau, encouraging them to participate in learning and acquire new knowledge and capabilities, and using staff members’ average amount of time per year given to lifelong learning as an indicator for achieving this goal, setting 40 hours per year as the minimum average of staff members’ time spent in learning as well as a minimum average of 10 hours spent in digital learning.

 

13.Raising budget implementation ability: (financial management)

(1)Effectively utilizing annual budget allotments, raising budget implementation efficiency, and exercising containment in all items of expenditure.

(2)Taking reference from the situation of the previous year’s final accounts, making a true assessment of plans and projects that are overdue or lacking in benefit, effectively allocating educational resources, drawing up future annual budgets, and achieving execution rates of at least 80% for both regular and capital budgets.