Foreword

Picture: Foreword

　　Over the past fifty years, the water agencies in Taiwan have devoted themselves to various flood control measures for flood-damage mitigation, such as dike construction, channel dredging, flood diversion, flood retention, watershed management, and drainage improvement. At the same time, these agencies have also been actively developing new water resource to meet diverse water need and demand, as well as to reallocate and manage available water resource in order to reduce the environmental impact that might be brought upon by development projects. As the time enters a new era of science and technology advancement, and with formation of the flood-control information network and establishment of the entire Tamshui River flood forecasting system, the flood-control and hazard-mitigation works have reached a new milestone, and the water resource allocation and management have entered a new stage of regional water resource management. As Taiwan joins the ranks of developed countries, her hydraulics endeavors, besides the continual flood control efforts for hazard mitigation and development and reallocation of water resource for better utilization, must also look into those activities of protecting natural environments and pursuing water-friendly surroundings, in order for ever-continuing water resource management and for ensuring ever-lasting running water.
　　Because an excessive number of water-related agencies had existed under the Central Government, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), for unification purpose, decided to consolidate some of these prior to the reorganization of the Executive Yuan, by merging a few former agencies such as the Water Resources Bureau, the Water Conservancy Agency, and the Taipei Water Resource Specific Committee, into one new unit named Water Resources Agency, MOEA, with the objective of promoting higher administrative efficiency among the water-related MOEA agencies, and strengthening the related business functionality. The establishment of the Water Resources Agency, MOEA, thus, serves the general public function of water utilization, by providing public water supplies, industrial waters, agricultural waters, and environmental water needs; the function of water control, by protecting lives and properties of people from flood damage, and assuring the safety and comfort of daily life; and furthermore, with positive promotion, the function of water friendliness and water revitalization in the future.