Feitsui Reservoir Reputation for Water Quality Shattered Overnight

Feitsui Reservoir Reputation for Water Quality Shattered Overnight
United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
August 12, 2015

Executive Summary: Typhoon Soudelor has passed. Two disasters have befallen the City of Taipei. The first involves the Feitsui Reservoir, an erstwhile model of efficiency which supplies water to the entire island of Taiwan. For three consecutive days it has piped contaminated water to the public. The second involves tens of thousands of trees along the city's parkways. The scene is heart-breaking. Mayor Ko Wen-je, it turns out, was home all day during the typhoon. He was a no-show at the Taipei Emergency Operations Center. This provoked widespread complaints that despite Ko's frequent boasts about putting "white (aka, KMT) governance" to shame, he betrayed scant concern for the public welfare.

Full Text Below:

Typhoon Soudelor has passed. Two disasters have befallen the City of Taipei. The first involves the Feitsui Reservoir, an erstwhile model of efficiency which supplies water to the entire island of Taiwan. For three consecutive days it has piped contaminated water to the public. The second involves tens of thousands of trees along the city's parkways. The scene is heart-breaking. Mayor Ko Wen-je, it turns out, was home all day during the typhoon. He was a no-show at the Taipei Emergency Operations Center. This provoked widespread complaints that despite Ko's frequent boasts about putting "white (aka, KMT) governance" to shame, he betrayed scant concern for the public welfare.

The Feitsui Reservoir was built in 1987. It has been in operation for 28 years. Its water supply has long remained stable, its water quality pure, and its water rates low. It has been the pride of Taipei City. Who knew the recent typhoon would end all that? Upstream mud and rock slides increased upstream Xindian Creek turbidity. Turbidity measurements skyrocketed to nearly 40,000 Formazin Turbidity Units (FTUs), over 1,000 times normal. Roiling brown waters left onlookers aghast. Who knew the Taipei Water Department would disregard water quality standards and public safety considerations? Who knew it would feed these waters from polluted streams directly into water treatment plants, then into peoples' homes?

The public has been scrambling to buy bottled water in supermarkets. Ko Wen-je seized the opportunity to launch a pre-emptive strike against the KMT ruled central government. He alleged that the source of water turbidity was the Nanshih Creek. He blamed the central government for poor soil and water conservation practices, and demanded that the central government conduct an inspection as soon as possible. Ko's rhetoric rang with self-righteousness. But Nanshih Creek water and soil conservation problems did not arise yesterday. If they impacted the quality of the public's drinking water, why didn't Ko respond long ago and remedy the situation? Besides, the Taipei Water Department could have adopted a "triage" approach to Nanshih Creek water turbidity. It could have isolated the Nanshih Creek's turbid water, and accessed the relatively clear Peishih Creek. Instead, it allowed people to drink contaminated water for an entire day before informing them that it was unfit for human consumption.

Put simply, the reputation of the Feitsui Reservoir has been shattered by poor water and soil conservation practices along the Nanshih Creek upstream. But the roiling brown water being piped into Taipei residents' homes, is the result of Ko administration's failures in management and service provisions. It was unable to adapt. It was unable or reluctant to confront the problems and tackle them head on.

Take the Shihmen Reservoir for example. Upstream overdevelopment created serious problems. In 2004, Typhoon Aere caused upstream landslides that increased water turbidity tens of thousands of FTUs. Taoyuan residents were left without water for days. The Water Resources Agency devoted considerable effort to remedy the problem. Legislation improved management of the upstream catchment. A new reservoir design improved desilting. Water intakes were located at different depths in the reservoir to mitigate the impact of water turbidity. The same was true for Typhoon Soudelor. The water quality from Shihmen Reservoir was normal. The water from Feitsui Reservoir was brown, This shows there were reasons for Shimen Reservoir's improvement and Feitsui Reservoir's decline.

Take the Feitsui Reservoir for example. Water quality in the Peishih Creek directly upstream from the reservoir was not a problem. The problem was that the Taipei Water Department water intake was located further downstream, in Chitan. Between Feitsui Reservoir and Chitan, water from Nanshih Creek entered. If water from the Nanshih Creek is unclean, Feitsui Reservoir water, no matter how clear, is certain to be polluted. Examples such as the Shihmen Reservoir have led experts to recommend diverting water from the Peishih Creek and Nanshih Creek. If necessary, polluted water from Nanshih Creek can be isolated, preventing it from flowing directly into the clean water of Chitan. Ironically, the Taipei Water Department has long been resting on its laurels, on the reputation of the Feitsui Reservoir. As a result the public mistakenly assumed it was drinking natural and clean tap water. This myth would eventually be shattered by Typhoon Soudelor.

The pollution of Nanshi Creek is in fact related to recent overdevelopment of the Wulai Mountain District hot springs. The hot springs and shops have damaged the soil and water. They have dumped waste water everywhere, willy nilly, affecting Nanshih Creek water quality. Overdevelopment has also led to landslides for Wulai residents. These problems have been around for years. But government agencies have dealt with them in a cavalier manner. The Nanshih Creek water and soil conservation management agencies are even more ridiculous. The central governmetn Council of Agriculture, Forest Service, Water District Agency, Taipei City Government, and New Taipei City Government are all implicated. The result of layer upon layer of bureaucracy has been the "Tragedy of the Commons".

The Feitsui Reservoir's reputation for water quality has been shattered, overnight. The public has been forced to drink brown water. It now realizes that contaminated water from the Feitsui Reservoir was piped into their homes in a slapdash manner. How can it not be distraught? Similarly, tens of thousands of trees in Taipei were toppled, mainly because they were not pruned in a timely manner. The tree beds are usually too small, and offer insufficient foothold for top-heavy trees. As result, the streets have become tree cemeteries. This scene of desolation took even Ko Wen-je by surprise. Since taking office, Ko has held forth about "standard operationg procedure", throwing temper tantrums and ordering his underlings to "Get out of my sight!" A wave of resignations swept the Park and Street Lights Office, resulting in insufficient manpower. Ko publicly excoriated the Farglory Taipei Dome project. As he saw it, he was displaying reformist resolve. But when it came to the public's daily need for water, and its emotional ties to old trees in their community, he betrayed callous indifference and left people utterly disillusioned.

Ko Wen-je loves to hold forth on reform. But he needs to do more than just talk. If the mayor prefers to stay home all day when typhoons strike, that's not a problem. But he cannot neglect the pruning and cleanup of roadside trees even as he excoriates the Shihmen Reservoir for flood discharges. He cannot pipe polluted drinking water into peoples' homes, even as he disavows all responsibility for the fiasco.

聯合／翡翠水庫清澈傳奇為何一夕破功？
2015-08-12 01:34:56 聯合報 聯合報社論

蘇迪勒颱風過後，台北市出現兩大災情，一是全台供水模範生的翡翠水庫，竟然連三天向市民送出汙濁的自來水；二是全市公園路樹傾倒上萬棵，情狀慘不忍睹。事後爆出市長柯文哲當天整日在家，並未坐鎮防災中心指揮，引起不少民眾怨言，認為「白色執政」動輒誇口改革，卻輕忽民生一至於此。

翡翠水庫自一九八七年建成啟用至今廿八年，一向以供水穩定、水質優良、且價格低廉，成為台北人的驕傲。孰料，這次受颱風影響，上游土石崩落，新店溪上游濁度飆高至近四萬度，較平時超出一千多倍。滾滾黃水，令人看了都感驚心；沒想到，台北市自來水處竟不顧品質與安全，直接取用這些汙濁的溪水送進自來水處理廠處理，然後直接進了市民家中。

就在民眾到賣場四處搶水之際，柯文哲先發制人，聲稱造成水質混濁的源頭在南勢溪，並將矛頭指向中央，認為南勢溪水土保持欠佳的責任在中央，要中央儘速檢查。話雖說得理直氣壯，但是，南勢溪水土保持不好並不是今天才發生的事，既然影響市民用水品質，為何不及早設法因應改善？再說，南勢溪水混濁，自來水處大可採取「分流」方式，隔離南勢溪濁水，而取用較清澈的北勢溪水處理；而市府卻讓民眾喝了一天黃水之後，才通知大家暫勿飲用。

簡單地說，翡翠水庫清澈傳奇的破滅，是由於南勢溪上游水土保持失守。但是，台北市把黃濁的泥水送進市民家中，卻是因為管理及服務思維抱殘守缺、不知應變，甚至不敢直視並改善自己的問題。

以石門水庫為例，由於上游濫墾導致淤積嚴重，二○○四年的艾利颱風期間因上游大崩坍使原水濁度飆高到數萬度，桃園居民多日無水可用。為此，水利署費了一番努力，除立法加強上游集水區的管理，更新增了水庫排砂的設計，並在水庫不同高度設置取水口，以減緩災後濁度對供水的影響。同是蘇迪勒颱風過境，這次石門水庫的供水品質正常，反而是翡翠水庫染黃，正說明石門與翡翠的「一進一退」不是沒有原因的。

再看翡翠水庫的情況。水庫上游直接來自北勢溪的水，確實品質無虞；問題在，北水處的取水口是設在比較下游的直潭，從翡翠水庫到直潭之間有南勢溪水匯入。亦即，如果無法確保南勢溪水之潔淨，翡翠水庫的水再怎麼清澈，勢必遭到濁水汙染。也因此，以石門水庫之殷鑑，專家建議，應設法增加北勢溪與南勢溪分流的設計，在必要時，可將南勢溪汙濁的水源隔離，使其不進入直潭淨水場。諷刺的是，北水處長期對外宣傳翡翠水庫的清澈美名，讓市民誤以為自己飲用的是多麼天然清澈的自來水；這個真相，終被蘇迪勒戳破。

南勢溪的汙濁化，其實與近年烏來山區溫泉旅館的過度開發有關，除了山區水土的破壞，溫泉鄉及商業廢水任意傾洩，在在影響南勢溪水質，過度開發也導致烏來居民居住地的土崩石流。此一問題，其實已經出現多年，相關單位卻掉以輕心。更荒謬的是，管理南勢溪水土保持的單位，從中央的農委會、林務局、水源區管理局、到雙北市皆涉其間，層層疊疊的結果，就是三不管，以至於斯。

翡翠水庫的清澈傳奇，因蘇迪勒毀於一旦。市民喝了一天黃水，才知道心目中潔淨的翡翠水，是如此潦草地送進了自己的家中，能不扼腕？同樣的，台北市這次有上萬棵路樹傾倒，主要原因，是許多應該修剪的樹木卻未修剪，加上行道樹普遍樹穴狹小，大樹頭重腳輕無以立足，讓街道變成了老樹墳場。這副慘狀，恐怕也是柯文哲所始料未及。上任以來，他開口閉口ＳＯＰ，動不動就拍桌叫屬下滾蛋，公園路燈管理處爆發離職潮，導致人力不足。他口口聲聲對遠雄大巨蛋開罵時，以為是在展現改革魄力；但對市民日常所需的供水，對市民深有感情的社區老樹，他卻毫不在意，委實讓民眾失望了。

柯文哲除高談改革，也必須做點實事。颱風天，市長要整天待在家裡，其實不是問題。重點在，他不能不管路樹的修剪及清理，卻撈過界去砲打石門水庫洩洪；更不能把不合格的自來水送給市民飲用，卻大剌剌地說那完全錯不在己。