Breaking News, World News and Taiwan News.

Updated Sunday, January 24, 2010 11:53 am TWN, The China Post news staff

Sponsors
▪	Save 75% for all hotels in Shanghai, Beijing and whole China. Lowest rates for Flights in China.
▪	Get the best deals for Guangzhou Hotels or choose from more than 10,000 hotels in 499 Chinese cities.
▪	Find great real time deals on China Flights. Book flights to China or China domestic flights 24/7.
▪	Buy china wholesale products from reliable chinese wholesalers on DHgate.com!

Water management is a national priority

The Tainan County chief said that if Kaohsiung is in constant lack of water, then building its own reservoir at Meinung is a necessity. However, Kaohsiung Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing pointed out that the 147-meter high dam of the future Meinung Reservoir would bring substantial danger to the lives of local residents in the event of an earthquake and therefore objects to the proposal.

Both Su and Yang is doing their job to fight for the best for the people in their respective counties. Yet local governments doing their best to fight for the rights for their people often lead to disadvantages for the nation as a whole. Therefore water control and management should be done at the national level and in a way that is balanced between fairness and practicality.

Metropolitan areas such as the greater Taipei and Kaohsiung areas naturally uses more water, often more than that can be reserved locally. The contention that regions can only use water obtained within their own boundaries is antithetical to the basic premise of urban planning.

It is understandable that when it is lacking sufficient water supplies to itselft, Tainan would find it hard to be generous to other counties. However, it is not about being generous. Taiwan is a nation where people share a common fate. If even within a country the size of Taiwan people are dividing up resources and differentiating “us” from “them,” then there's not much hope for the world.

On the other hand, the central government should also make good and clear plans on water control that the people can understand. Such plans should not only be metropolitan-oriented but should be fair and, more importantly, in agreement with eco-sustainability.

Currently the government is not doing a good enough job, especially regarding the education and promotion of its water management vision. When most people think about WRA education, they only think of lessons learned regarding the importance of remembering to conserve water personally. That is not enough. People need to see the bigger, national picture.

The government should raise public awareness of water management to the level of currency and gold reserve management. The first step is to upgrade the WRA to a Cabinet-Level department.

1|2