TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese government is mulling plans to construct three new reservoirs amid a looming water crisis in a year that has seen little rainfall due to the lack of typhoons.

The new facilities being planned are the Nanhua Second Reservoir in Tainan, the Tianhuahu Reservoir in Miaoli County, and the Shuangsi Reservoir in New Taipei City, according to Water Resources Agency (WRA) Deputy Director-General Wang Yi-feng (王藝峰) on Sunday (Nov. 29). Wang added that there is currently no timetable for construction as environmental impact assessments still need to be carried out as well as discussions with people living around the proposed reservoir sites, CNA reported.

According to the WRA, if completed, the Tainan Nanhua Second Reservoir would increase Taiwan's daily water supply by 170,000 tonnes, the Miaoli Tianhuahu Reservoir by 260,000 tonnes, and the New Taipei City Shuangsi Reservoir by 126,000 tonnes.

As global warming will only intensify in the coming years, the extreme weather that accompanies it will also increase. This combined with Taiwan’s plans to become a high-end manufacturing center means that water use is bound to increase, according to Wang. He added that due to the country’s mountainous topography, building new reservoirs is one of the only ways for Taiwan to address water shortage issues.

Wang went on to say that the height of the dam at Tsengwen Reservoir has been raised in order to increase water storage capacity. Plans are also underway to raise the height of dams at six other reservoirs around the country, including Nanhua Reservoir, Baoshan Second Reservoir, Shihmen Reservoir, Liyutan Reservoir, Xishi Reservoir, and Mutan Reservoir — which would increase the nation's water supply by 180 million tonnes a year.