TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Plum rains over the weekend (May 6-7) helped fill reservoirs in northern and central regions, though the impact on the south was limited.

The Southern Region Water Resources Office estimates recent plum rain contributed one million tons of inflow to the Zengwen Reservoir and 300,000 tons flowed into the Nanhua Reservoir, per CTWant.

As of this morning (May 8), Zengwen Reservoir's water storage is just 6.45% of capacity, with Wushantou Reservoir at 56.79%, and Nanhua Reservoir at 19.54% capacity. The total water storage capacity of the three major reservoirs in the south totals more than 90 million tons.

According to the Water Resources Agency, plum rains over the weekend (May 6-7) benefited reservoirs in the central region, with Sun Moon Lake Reservoir, Deji Reservoir, and Liyutan Reservoir receiving 70% of the rainfall.

Unfortunately, heavy rainfall did not occur in the south despite artificial rainfall enhancement operations carried out in the catchment area of Zengwen Reservoir on (May 7).

Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che(黃偉哲) reminded citizens about the importance of conserving water during this drought period. He said that water consumption is estimated to be about one million metric tons per day, so at current levels, water supply should last until August.

WeatherRisk Chief Meteorologist Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) noted that the weekend brought the first plum rain of the year with central Taiwan receiving the most rainfall, helping ease drought conditions. Peng forecast that another round of plum rains expected this Saturday (May13) could bring further relief.