TAIPEI, Taiwan -- As the state of water shortage continues in Southern Taiwan, an “upgraded version” of second-phase water rationing is set to kick-start today in Tainan and Kaohsiung.

About three million people will be without water in Taiwan as the government takes drastic action to ration supplies in response to the country's lowest rainfall for 67 years, reports the BBC's Cindy Sui.

Taiwan should work to solve its water shortage problem immediately as it is facing its worst drought for 67 years. Taiwan receives 2,515 millimeters of rainfall on average every year, about 2.5 times the global average. However, only 26% of this rainfall is available to Taiwanese users, with the amount of water for each individual being just one-sixth of the global average. Taiwan ranked 18th on a list of the world's driest areas in terms of the amount of water accessible to its per capita population.