To address the issue of waste in water hindering the water flow and contaminates the water quality, the EPA has started to investigate methods for waste removal in waters around Taiwan since 2018, and clarified the responsibilities of relative authorities. In this project, the tasks continued to be carried out and the results are as followed: Main tasks include strengthening and maintaining the EPA’s “Inland Water Waste Removal Management System” and the “Cherish the Water Web", and tracing results reported by various agencies. The functions of the system and the GIS map were updated to improve accessibilities, and network security of the system was ensured, and new pages of the public web were developed. Moreover, three seminars on system operation were held. This project also hosted three interviews to related agencies for suggestions on the management system, where in conclusion the cooperation mechanisms were necessary. Important river baseline information was documented, and 9 literatures from abroad were collected including those from Europe, S.America and Asia. Moreover, compilation of data from 2021 and 2022 was completed, where 22 agencies were rewarded for their results last year. In 2022, 46 out of 49 agencies uploaded data to the system which the number grew 1.3 times than last year. An evaluation for 2023 was proposed and aligned with the ‘Salute to the Seas’ policy. To encourage public awareness, a press conference was held on May to announce 2021 operation results of the agencies and to make public appeal to ‘keep the waste from the streams’. Besides, a two-day inter-agency meeting and result sharing seminar was hosted where agencies discussed and shared experiences on mechanisms of river waste management and collaboration, which are conducive to improving Taiwan’s inland water management, a total of 70 delegates attended the meeting.

Water quality protection, management system, surface water waste removal operations