Pursuing to the Drinking Water Management Act, in order to ensure the quality of drinking water sources, improve public drinking water quality and maintain public health, it had been delineated and issued eighty-six of the drinking water source quality protection area and forty-nine of the drinking water intake point with a certain distance, i.e. 10.78 % of total area in Taiwan. In order to enforce the strategic assessment on government policies, the project entitled “Environmental Strategic Assessment Plan for Policy on Changes in Scope of the Drinking Water Source Quality Protection Area” was funded by the Environmental Protection Administration of the Executive Yuan. In this first year the main tasks included: (1) to prepare the draft EIA Statement for the protection area; (2) to analyze the competitive affairs and mitigating measures concerning the protection area; (3) to conduct the questionnaire survey of the environmental strategic assessment; and (4) other assistance, support and assigned affairs. In the draft assessment statement, there were three policy plans presented, such as main plan, alternative plan and zero action plan. In the main plan, it is to continue the current delineated area and the management performance. Under the following circumstances, the competent authority shall make changes in the scope of a protection area individually: (1) to correct the scope corresponding to the mapping information renewal; (2) to change the scope due to the movement of water intake point or other requirements; (3) to revoke the scope if not using for drinking water source any more. If any new sources for drinking water or any situation changes occurred, the competent authority shall delineate a new protection area accordingly after evaluating water source protection, land use development and local residents equity.

environmental impact assessment;drinking water;government policy