TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Typhoon Doksuri has brought so much rain to southern Taiwan's reservoirs that the government lowered the water alert level in the Kaohsiung area from drought to normal starting Monday (July 31).

The Water Resources Agency (WRA) said in a press release Friday (July 28) the typhoon's periphery increased the flow rate of the Gaoping River from 21 cubic meters per second on Wednesday (July 26) to 2,800 cubic meters per second on Friday. It said the widespread rainfall in the catchment area, along with backup measures, allowed it to change the water alert level in Kaohsiung from a green alert to normal.

Taiwan uses a four-level water alert system, with green being the least serious and red being the most.

The WRA said the water storage ratios of Lantan and Renyitan Reservoirs in Chiayi and Nanhua Reservoirs in Tainan have reached more than 90%. Out of 18 major reservoirs nationwide, only two have less than 70% storage, and 10 have 90% or more.

But Chiayi still needs water from Yunlin and Tainan systems, and the Zengwen and Wu-Shan-Tou Reservoirs had only 25% storage as of the Friday press release. The WRA said it will work with the Council of Agriculture's Irrigation Agency and other units to save and allocate water for the first and second crops of the year.

A yellow alert remains in place for Chiayi and Tainan due to reduced-pressure water supply. The authorities will also reduce water pressure at night (from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.) and urge industries to cut their water use by 5%, without affecting domestic and industrial water needs.