Page 32 - 2019 Annual Report Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan

Gestation: Enjoying the richness of the land Unit Three: Improving the Basic Environment
Improvement project at the main trunk irrigation line in Zhiben, Taitung County.
Improvement project at Guizaikeng branch line 1 in Toushe, Nantou County.
Improvement project at a sluice gate on the Youzilin irrigation line in Meinong, Kaohsiung City.
this information for reference in demarcating production areas for aquaculture. These measures achieve the goal of ensuring comprehensive and rational use of farmland resources while also promoting sustainable development of agriculture.
(2) Maintaining the quality and quantity of irrigation water
The construction of facilities for farmland water conservancy is the foundation of agricultural development, and is an important link in sustainable agricultural operations. Comprehensive farmland irrigation and drainage facilities, combined with Internet information and communications technology and automated
control systems, allow for the more precise supply of water for agricultural use. Faced with climate change, worsening extreme weather, and disparities in rainfall between wet and dry seasons, the effective use of agricultural water resources not only permits a steady supply of water resources for agricultural production, thereby ensuring agricultural production and farmers’ incomes, it also can contribute to other goals.
In 2019, the COA: (i) renovated or improved 230 kilometers of irrigation and drainage channels; (ii) completed 534 water conservancy infrastructure projects and structures; (iii) renovated or improved irrigation ditches on 1,085 hectares of readjusted farmland and early readjusted farmland; (iv) guided farmers in employing pipeline irrigation facilities on 2,002 hectares of land; (v) undertook renovations or improvements on automated water-testing systems in 28 locations; (vi) guided local irrigation associations in examining 34,000 samples to protect irrigation water quality; and (vii) continued to promote the plan for maintaining the water quality of agricultural irrigation and reduced industrial effluent from 37 factories to decrease the risk of irrigation water pollution. In addition, we assisted in renovating and improving 20 kilometers of water channels and constructing 201 water conservancy structures for farmland irrigation facilities outside of irrigation areas, thereby improving 1,500 hectares of farmland outside of irrigation areas. Through facilities operations and environmental construction, the COA also effectively brought into play the three sheng (production [shengchan], livelihood [shenghuo], and the ecology [shengtai]) and disaster prevention and mitigation functions of irrigation. Finally, we also completed improvement of 327 kilometers of emergency irrigation canals in readjusted farmland areas, thereby ensuring the smoothness of flow in irrigation canals in these areas. All these measures improved the operational environment for farming as well as the quality of life in rural areas.
30