With reservoirs in southern Taiwan currently holding 50 percent less water than in years past, President Ma Ying-jeou said Saturday that the severe water shortage loom and need to be dealt with as a national security issue. Taiwan suffered from a drought in the first half of the year, Ma said, and water saving measures were about to be implemented when Typhoon Morakot drenched the country in August. But since then, there has been 70 percent less rainfall than past averages, leaving the country vulnerable to water shortages once again. Because the next rainy season will not come until next May, the water shortage will worsen over the next five to six months and 'should be elevated to the level of a national security issue, ' Ma said at an anti-drought meeting held at the Presidential Office. Ma pointed that the government needs to take effective water conservation measures and help people endure the crisis. Reducing consumption and saving water represent the only real solution, Ma said, because it will be difficult to deliver water from the north to the south or dig wells to increase water supply. The president said the government's first priority is to solve the pressing issue and then plan for long-term comprehensive measures. Ma recalled that he was mayor of Taipei City when it encountered a water shortage in March 2002 and said that experience had left him with a lingering fear of a lack of water. Last week, Premier Wu Den-yih asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to work out a comprehensive plan to deal with the worsening water shortage. The Water Resources Agency said early this month that water rationing might be imposed by the end of February if no rain falls from now until next spring. Taiwan has been affected by a continuing drought since the beginning of this year, except for August, when Morakot hit the country, according to a climate change monitoring center at National Taiwan University. During the first 10 months of 2009, it rained on only 52 days, some 90 days fewer than the average level, the center said. 