"It might seem odd to prioritize chip production over farming, but Water Resources Agency deputy director Wang Yi-Feng told the NYT that the inverse would be a "lose-lose" because the farmers would suffer from low yields even with irrigated water."
In my opinion, this is utter BS. Its utter crazed for people to prioritise non-essentials over essentials like food. Even if yield is low, its still food. Can they eat silicon or chips if they have no food?
Instead, I feel they made this decision because farmers can't pay for the water, while the big companies can and are already doing so. It's also shown in the fact that "commoners" are subjected to water rationing, while big companies like TSMC is getting all the water they need to run at 100% capacity. If its a fair system, I would expect water rationing to apply to TSMC or any big companies as well.