On a visit to Kaohsiung today, the Premier Jiang Yi-huah gave the thumbs up to the Baoye Flood Detention Park project in Sanmin District, saying the 4.46-hectare park with water storage capacity of 100,000 cubic meters will be able to protect some 9,000 residents from the threat of flooding. He thanked the Construction and Planning Agency (CPA) and the city government for their collaborative efforts on this facility.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the park was built to ease flooding around the intersection of Chengqing and Yihua roads. The land was provided by the Kaohsiung City government while construction funds of NT$250 million (US$8.5 million) came from the CPA through a flood control project. Since its opening on December 19, 2012, the facility has already spared surrounding communities the pain of flooding from several typhoons and heavy downpours this season.
Previous flood defense projects primarily focused on blocking or containing rising waters, the premier said, but aside from building embankments and dredging rivers, urban planners should employ the "sponge city" concept of absorbing excess rainwater into flood detention and storage systems. The central government began pushing comprehensive flood control and sponge city ideas in recent years, and these methods have already been applied with great success in cities in Europe and North America.
The Baoye facility is an excellent example of central and local authorities working hand in hand to advance the public's well-being, said the premier. The central government financed the entire project while Kaohsiung City acquired the land and designed the urban renewal plans. During the construction stage, the CPA oversaw engineering of the site and the Kaohsiung government took care of mechanical and electrical services. Authorities at both levels worked seamlessly to build a piece of infrastructure that would yield great benefit to citizens.
Since the completion of construction in late 2012, the park has received the FIABCI-Taiwan Real Estate Excellence Awards as well as the Architectural Landscape Awards. It will also be vying for the FIABCI Prix d'Excellence Award.
Flood control funds spent in the last eight years have been bearing fruit, Jiang added, and the government will continue to inject NT$60 billion (US$2 billion) over the next six years. He said every dollar will be spent carefully to turn urban areas into sponge cities and remediate all rivers and waterways.