Transcript Welcome to “What’s Up With Water,” your need-to-know news of the world’s water from Circle of Blue. I’m Eileen Wray-McCann. In Taiwan, officials are battling an unusually severe drought while at the same time trying to cope with rising Covid-19 cases. Reuters reports that because of low water levels, hydropower stations are generating less electricity. The power crunch could not have come at a worse time. The island suffered two power outages last week, caused in part by reduced output from hydropower dams, a malfunction at a fossil fuel plant, and high electricity demand from Taiwan’s manufacturing sector. With reservoirs declining, officials announced stricter water rationing measures. If the spring rains continue to falter, the high-value computer chip industry will have to cut consumption by 17 percent starting in June. To maintain residential supplies, the government is drilling wells and installing desalination plants. One official at Taiwan’s Water Resources Agency said it had been 360 days since the island saw any appreciable rainfall.