Southern Taiwan floods devastate agriculture, losses exceed 100 million, water plan launched.

In recent days, southern Taiwan has been affected by a low-pressure trough and torrential rainfall, bringing disaster-level heavy rain to multiple areas and causing severe agricultural and fishery losses as well as flooding. According to the latest statistical data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, as of today, the cumulative total of agricultural product losses and damaged private facilities across Taiwan has officially surpassed NT$148.5 million, washing away the fruits of farmers' hard work and prompting local and central government authorities to fully commit to disaster relief and recovery efforts. Facing the severe test of torrential rain frequently brought by extreme weather, fundamentally strengthening basic drainage facilities has become an urgent core issue for both the central and local governments, with all sectors closely watching the subsequent effectiveness of flood control measures.

In response to the disaster caused by the torrential rain, the Water Resources Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs promptly responded by stating that the Executive Yuan is currently fully promoting a four-year "Overall Improvement Project for County- and City-Managed Rivers and Drainage," which aims to systematically enhance the flood control capacity in flood-prone areas across all of Taiwan's counties and cities. Building on existing foundations and in order to respond more swiftly to the urgent needs of local areas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has officially launched the proposal submission process for the second batch of governance projects. The Water Resources Agency is actively cooperating with various local governments to comprehensively review improvement needs regarding drainage bottlenecks, river siltation, and pumping stations within their jurisdictions, hoping that through the cooperation of the central and local governments, funds and engineering efforts can be precisely allocated to reduce the threat of extreme rainfall to the lives and property of the public.

Judging from Taiwan's climate patterns in recent years, both the frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall have shown a significant increasing trend, posing a severe challenge to domestic agricultural production and the national flood prevention system. Whenever the flood season, typhoons, or low-pressure troughs arrive, central and southern regions frequently report disasters such as flooded and lodging crops as well as washed-away fish farms, which not only directly hit the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen but also affect domestic agricultural product market prices and subsequently influence the daily living expenses of the general public. Therefore, while agricultural loss relief and post-disaster recovery by the Ministry of Agriculture are imperative, the fundamental solution still lies in the water conservancy engineering construction overseen by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Regional drainage efficiency must be comprehensively upgraded through diverse methods such as river dredging, expansion of drainage cross-sections, establishment of detention basins, and upgrading of pumping units.

During the implementation of this four-year overall drainage improvement plan, the role of the central government is not only to provide financial subsidies, but also to assist local governments in conducting cross-regional and cross-watershed overall planning. In the past, some local governments, constrained by insufficient fiscal autonomy or limited professional manpower, found it difficult to conduct comprehensive reviews of large-scale drainage systems. Through the overall planning of the Executive Yuan and the professional technical support of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, it can be ensured that every single budget for flood control is put to the best possible use. The launch of this second batch of governance projects aims to reinforce the latest disaster points brought by climate change on the existing construction foundation, shorten administrative procedures, and allow the projects to exert their flood prevention benefits at an earlier date.

However, flood control projects often involve massive land acquisition, communication with residents, and complex construction schedules. How to strike a balance between project execution efficiency, local public opinion, and ecological conservation is also a test that the competent authorities must carefully face. With the commencement of proposal submissions for the second batch of governance projects, the subsequent review progress, fund allocations, and project execution rates of the relevant ministries and councils will become important indicators for testing the government's disaster prevention resilience. In Taiwan's long-term battle against climate change, national land planning and water resource management strategies must be continuously optimized in order to build a stronger defense line for Taiwan's agricultural development and public residential safety under the frequent threat of extreme weather.