Flood Control and Water Management Policy: Lai Jui-long Advocates Building a Sustainable City Coexisting with Nature

(Central News Agency reporter Tsai Meng-yu, Kaohsiung, 13th) The Legislative Yuan's Interior Committee conducted a 'Kaohsiung Urban Flood Control Inspection' today. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate and legislator Lai Jui-long attended and announced plans to promote the 'Resilient Kaohsiung Project 2.0,' aiming to transform Kaohsiung into a sustainable city capable of coexisting with nature.

Today's inspection was arranged by convener Li Po-i, who led the committee to visit the 'Fusing Park Detention Pond New Construction Project' in Nanzih District. The new detention pond will provide a 12,000 cubic meter retention capacity, integrating with the existing stormwater drainage system to effectively enhance Nanzih District's flood regulation and drainage capacity.

Lai Jui-long stated that the detention pond is expected to serve as a model combining flood control with livable recreational space. He pledged to collaborate with the Kaohsiung team to develop a comprehensive resilience governance blueprint, creating a safer and more adaptive smart city.

Li Po-i said that in response to local neighborhood leaders' repeated requests for upgrading outdated facilities at Fusing Park, he secured central government funding for the new detention pond project, achieving a win-win outcome for flood prevention safety and improved living conditions. He also urged relevant agencies to not only complete the project on schedule but also upgrade park recreational facilities and overall landscape to benefit the local community.

Lai emphasized that today's on-site inspection ensures central resources are effectively aligned with local needs and that all projects proceed steadily. With climate change and increasingly frequent extreme rainfall events, water management strategies must evolve. In recent years, central policy has gradually shifted from traditional flood control to a 'systemic water management' and 'smart resilience' governance model.

Lai stressed that Kaohsiung's next phase aims to build a sustainable city that coexists with nature. Building upon the achievements of current mayor Chen Chi-mai, he will further advance the 'Resilient Kaohsiung Project 2.0,' integrating resilience thinking into urban governance. This includes unifying land use planning, urban green spaces, detention ponds, disaster preparedness, AI early warning systems, and smart technologies, with the goal that every public infrastructure project incorporates disaster prevention functions, thereby comprehensively enhancing emergency response capabilities.

Lai emphasized that flood control is a long-term, continuous century-long endeavor requiring central investment, local implementation, and legislative budget support. Moving forward, he will strive to secure more central resources, demand quality and timely project execution from relevant agencies, and improve surrounding drainage systems to strengthen overall hydraulic capacity. (Edited by Huang Ming-hsi) 1150713