Owing to its topographical composition of short rivers with rush currents on steep hills and uneven seasonal rainfall distributed in a year, Taiwan has always suffered an unstable water supply with relation to the growing demand of the industrial sector. Consequently, the conservation and use of water resources is of great concern for Taiwan. Although many countries have established the nation-level research centers which integrate related specialists, facilities and resources to work out effective solutions to the native water issues, so far, the relevant one that is capable of providing comprehensive and long-term services to address the need in Taiwan is still unavailable. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a national center where can implement the scientific research and technology development on the water quality and water resources to ensure a much better water environment in Taiwan. Based on the data analyzed in this project from a survey of 43 research agencies overseas and in Taiwan, four types of the operational institutions can be concluded, namely: a parallel operation of supervisor and supplier system, a centralized authority system, the Australia CRC system, and the French business-based system. Meanwhile, it was found that approximately 80% of research institutes or centers in Taiwan have been established as the legal corporations and chiefly engage in the tasks inclusive of long-term investigations, technology research, development and transfer. According to the review and assessment on Taiwan’s water-related circumstances, we came up with the four rational proposals for establishment of water research institutions with different attributes as following: 1. The water research center can be set up under the infrastructure of Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), providing research-based solutions to the water quality issues encountered by EPA. 2. The water research center can be established as a subsidiary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs or the state-run water company to develop relevant knowledge and technology for water supply with sufficient and stable quantity as well as good quality. 3. The water research center can be legally established as a juridical person to undertake relevant research on the issues of water resources and usage by the public and industrial sectors. 4. The water research center can be legally established as an Independent Administrative Institution to engage in knowledge and technology development for the improvement of water quality as well as to carry out the government-authorized tasks. In view of the critical pressures on setting and operation finances as well as other considerations, it is suggested that a small-scale national research laboratory (or center) for water quality technology can be initiated to explore the knowledge and develop the technology for tackling the urgent water issues. For the ultimate goal, it is anticipated that the research and development related to water resources and others can be intergraded, further expanding the scale to a so-called national water research center in a long-term basis. It is estimated that the complete establishment and development of a national research laboratory for water quality and a national water research for both water quality and resources will be achieved in 15 years or so, with the employment of at least 124 staff and a total budget of NT$2.72 billion.

Establishing National Center for Water, Master Plan, Suggestions, Budget