The Rules herein are set forth in accordance with Article 98 of the Water Act (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”).

The term “surface water” depicted in the Act refers to water flowing or standing on ground surface; the term “groundwater” refers to water flowing or standing below the ground surface. However, subsurface water inside the unsaturated zone under the riverbed within the waterway belongs to surface water.

The terms depicted in Article 3 of the Act below are defined as follows:
1.“Flood control” means control or fending off heavy rainfall or flooding by artificial means to abate or alleviate the damages of flood submergence.
2.“Tidal wave control” means constructing sea embankment or using other artificial means to prevent damages brought about by tidal waves in coastal or estuary areas.
3.“Irrigation” means drawing water by artificial means to irrigate farmland or crops for the purpose of agricultural development.
4.“Drainage” means discharging by artificial means surface or ground water that is potentially hazardous or may be reutilized.
5.“Leaching of injurious salt” means flushing or leaching soil with water by artificial means to remove or reduce the acid, base or salt content in soil.
6.“Soil conservation” means using artificial means to enhance the rational use of land, conserve water sources, or prevent soil erosion.
7.“Water reservation” means holding or storing and utilizing surface or ground water by artificial means.
8.“Silt dredge” means diverting water to designated areas by artificial means to hold or precipitate silt or transport sediment to ameliorate land degradation or improve waterway.
9.“Water supply” means transporting and distributing water resources via hydraulic structures to supply water usages specified in the first paragraph of Article 18 of the Act.
10.“Pier construction” means constructing harbor or pier along the bank of waterway.
11.“Facilitating navigation” means opening waterways or digging canals by artificial means to facilitate navigation.
12.“Hydro-power development” means converting by artificial means the potential energy of water via water turbine into mechanical or electric energy.

The term “waterway” depicted in the Act refers to areas run through by rivers, lakes, regional drainage, distributary.

The term “reservoir” depicted in the Act refers to weir, dam and auxiliary facilities and water storage area thereto significantly associated with use of water resources and flood control, and announced as such by the central authority-in-charge.
Reservoirs announced before the promulgation of this Rule as amended on November 12, 2018, regulations before the amendment shall still apply. The original reservoir announcement , when necessary, the central authority-in-charge may consult with the reservoir management agency (entity) and the related competent authorities to consider for abolishment in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

The term “water right holder” in the Act refers to a person granted with water right, including individual, or legal entity, agency (institution), and non-legal entity having a representative or administrator.

The term “water work proprietor” depicted in the Act refers to one of the following occasions:
1.In the case involving the construction, alteration or removal of hydraulic structures, the person who applies to the authority-in-charge for approval pursuant to the second paragraph, Article 46 of the Act before the work is completed; or the person who controls, operates, maintains or manages the water work after it is completed.
2.In the case not involving the construction, alteration or removal of hydraulic structures, the person who controls, operates, maintains or manages a water work.
3.Where the water work is constructed by the government, its proprietor is the government agency in charge before the work is completed, or the designated management agency after the work is completed.

The term “soil and stone” depicted in the Act refers to ores existing in solid-state mass as stipulated in subparagraph 1, Article 4 of Quarrying Law and Article 3 of Mining Law.

The term “water for agricultural use” depicted in the Act refers to water used by agricultural, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry industries; the term “water for industrial use” refers to water used by factories or mines for cooling, consumption or wastewater treatment; the term “water for hydro-power use” refers to water used in hydro-power generation.