TAIPEI: Drought conditions in the catchment area of the Shihmen Reservoir in northern Taiwan's Taoyuan county continued Friday, despite a thunderstorm that hit northern Taiwan the day before, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said.

WRA Deputy Director Wu Yue-hsi said the water catchment of the Shihmen Reservoir recorded about 20.5 millimeters of rainfall over the previous 24 hours, for a reservoir intake of 3-3.5 million tons of water. That's equivalent to one to two days water supply.

"The rainfall was helpful in easing water shortages in the northern area for one or two days, but was not great enough to end the drought," Wu said.

The water agency took advantage of a cold front to create artificial rain in the catchment area Thursday evening and early Friday morning, according to Wu.

The "rainmaking" effort will continue over the next two days, taking advantage of fresh cold fronts expected to arrive Friday and Saturday, Wu added.

Authorities hope more rain will fall in the catchment area.

The water level of the Shihmen Reservoir stood at 229.48 meters at 11 am Friday - that's a level considered low to very low, according to Chien Chao-chun, deputy director of the Northern Region Water Resources Office under the WRA.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 03/07/2009 page1)