For the sustainable development of the water environment of rivers, Mayor Xiu-yan Lu of Taichung City Government today (Feb 13th) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Presidents of National Chung Hsing University, National Taichung University of Education, and Feng Chia University, and the Vice President of Tunghai University. The mayor hopes that universities will fulfill their social responsibilities towards the water environment of the rivers by sharing the results of water environment engineering construction. Also, by connecting public and private sector resources in the region and establishing collaborative partnerships, they drive the public to participate in water environment maintenance and the development of the surrounding areas of the rivers.
“A country needs good rivers to be great, and a university needs good streams around to become a good university," the teacher who taught urban planning once stated when mayor Lu was studying in the Department of Land Economics at National Chengchi University. Therefore, the city government applied for the Central Forward-looking River Water Quality & Environment Management Plan, and received subsidies for the improvement of drainage of Dongda Creek near Tunghai University, Midori-gawa, and Dry Stream drainage at National Chung Hsing University, Yanagawa at the National Taichung University of Education, and Huilai Creek and Chaoyang Creek at Feng Chia University. She especially thanked the central government and the city council for supporting the river remediation program and funding. The total cost of the related improvement projects is as high as over NTD 3.5 billion, and they are all completed on schedule and with high quality.
In addition, , the above projects have also been recognized with special awards in the first Public Construction Commission Award held by the city government. Among them, Dongda Creek, Midori-gawa, and Huilai Creek have won two facilities projects in the 21st Public Construction Commission Golden Quality Award by the Public Construction Commission of the Executive Yuan respectively, including one excellence award, one honorable nomination award, and an honorable nomination award on the water conservancy project. Besides, the Water Resources Bureau has won the special contribution award of the Public Construction Commission Golden Quality Award of the Public Construction Commission of the Executive Yuan for two consecutive years, showing that the quality of water environment engineering in Taichung is evident to all. Mayor Lu said that the new river needs to be cared for, managed, and used by all local schools, and that the public-private should work together for the sustainable development of the water environment projects.
Shi-yi Fan, director of the Water Resources Bureau, expressed his gratitude to Tunghai University for providing the land needed for the Dongda Creek improvement project free of charge. In conjunction with the Midori-gawa water environment improvement plan, National Chung Hsing University dismantled the wall on Xingda Road from the north side of the Humanities Building to the Yunping Building. They also widened the sidewalks to integrate the school with the surrounding communities. The National Taichung University of Education locates near Yanagawa. , It has been 15 Yanagawa Literature Awards since it has been established by the former president, Qing-biao Lai, and many literary works, including "praise to Chinese teachers," are related to Yanagawa. Feng Chia University is adjacent to Huilai Creek and Chaoyang Creek. Professors of the department of hydraulic engineering have not only provided valuable suggestions in the engineering design stage, but also incorporated the improvement results into the courses related to the innovative CDIO engineering teaching model.
Director Fan said that water quality improvement is the core of rivers such as Dongda Creek, in addition to the existing flood control function of the river, at the same time it can improve the water quality and the overall waterfront environment, reduce or isolate the pollution source from entering the river by using the sewage interception method on dry-weather days, and intercept the sewage after purification by the procedure of gravel treatment. The maximum daily sewage treatment capacity can reach 82,000 tons, about the size of 43 international standard swimming pools. The MOU signed today encourages universities to develop local-based new courses and activities oriented to local development needs, and then link public and private sector resources in the region. It will also drive the public to participate in water environment maintenance and promote environmental education courses through local seminars and other methods.
Today's signing ceremony also invited four universities to hold basketball friendship tournaments in the park. Mayor Lu and President Fu-sheng Xue of National Chung Hsing University, President Ru-che Wang of the National Taichung University of Education, President Bing-qian Li of Feng Chia University, and vice president Li-zhi Wang of Tunghai University jointly kicked off the game. Shi-yi Fan, director of Water Resources Bureau, Xin-hui Huang and Shi-zhou Liu, city councilors, Bao-yun Chen, district executive of Xitun District, Qqiu-wan Lin, district executive of Nantun District, Su-zhen Chen, chief of Chaoyang village and other village chiefs, and Liang-yi Zhang, executive director of the Chaoma Sports Center attended the meeting. Legislator Wan-jian Zhang Liao, city councilor, Qi-feng Lin, Nai-lun Zhang Liao, and Wen-zheng Chen sent representatives to witness the event. (12/13*15)* Water Conservancy Bureau
Contact person: Mr. Huang, the Water Resources Bureau of Taichung City Government
Tel: 04-22289111 ext. 53802