The 26th Cross-Strait Symposium on Water Sciences and Technologies, co-hosted by IWHR and Taiwan University, was successfully convened via video link on November 28 with fruitful exchanges on water issues between experts from mainland China and Taiwan Province.
It was the third year that the Symposium was held online since 2020 as the whole world reeled from COVID-19. Despite the impact of the pandemic which disabled face-to-face communication, water professionals from the mainland and Taiwan Province have managed to keep the Symposium, a regular Cross-Strait science and technology communication mechanism, functioning as both sides remain facing similar water challenges.
According to Dr. Peng Jing, Vice President of IWHR who spoke at the opening ceremony, the mainland has suffered from long-lasting high temperatures and low precipitation in the south, as well as the abnormal drought in the flood season in the Yangtze River Basin. As agricultural irrigation, water supply for urban and rural areas, electricity generation, shipping and several other fields have been impaired by the abnormal climate, it is clear that water plays a crucial role in achieving sustainable economic, societal and environmental development.
Taiwan Province faces the similar challenges caused by climate change, said Professor Tsang-Jung Chang from Taiwan University. The Taiwan Island has undergone torrential rain brought by a dozen typhoons, and the cumulative precipitation of this year at some observatory stations has exceeded 10,000 millimeters as of October, according to him. He regarded today’s water issues as the common ground for the two sides. He also hoped this year’s Symposium could fuel joint efforts and further cross-strait cooperation in water science and technology.
The Symposium consists of one keynote speech session and four invited presentation sessions, focusing respectively on 1) Basin-wide Smart Management and Allocation of the Water Quality and Water Quantity; 2) Stabilized Water Resources Utilization against Normalized Floods and Droughts; 3) Environmental-Friendly Water Conservancy Projects and Eco-Protection of Rivers and Lakes; and 4) Governance and Protection of Plateau Lakes, all are of high concern in both mainland China and Taiwan Province. A total of 16 water experts from both sides shared their latest theoretical and practical progress and discussed possible future cooperation.
