By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — Kaohsiung is discussing a proposed floodgate and pumping station with the Ministry of Economic Affairs after heavy rain and a high tide left low-lying parts of Cieding District (茄萣區) unable to drain, Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said Monday.
The Liberty Times reported that Chen announced the discussions during an inspection on Aug. 24. He estimated the project would cost about NT$1 billion and said it would need a pumping capacity of 30 cubic meters per second.
Chen said Kaohsiung’s accumulated rainfall over the previous 24 hours had reached 567 millimeters by 3 a.m. Monday, exceeding the total recorded during Typhoon Gaemi. He said it was possibly the highest such rainfall total in the city’s history.
At about 5 a.m., extremely heavy rain coincided with a high tide, Chen said. The water level near the coast rose above neighborhood drainage channels, preventing water from flowing out of residential areas.
The proposed infrastructure would be built downstream on the Cieding main drainage channel, near its outlet to the sea. Chen said lowering the channel’s water level more quickly could address recurrent flooding, particularly around Jinluan Temple (金鑾宮).
The proposal predates Monday’s flooding. In a June 26 statement, the Kaohsiung City Government Water Resources Bureau described plans for a tidal barrier and large pumping station with the same 30-cubic-meter-per-second capacity. That statement estimated the cost at about NT$1.12 billion, slightly above Chen’s rounded figure Monday.
The bureau said Cieding’s low elevation leaves the district vulnerable when high tides push against drainage flows. Chen said annual high-tide periods can cause standing water in the area even without rain and that existing local pumps cannot fully resolve the problem.
Chen said crews would first address individual flooded locations while the city and central government continued discussing the larger project. The report included no construction timetable.
