Hualien: A small barrier lake that emerged on Matai'an Creek earlier this week has completely drained, restoring the waterway's flow to normal, stated the Hualien branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency on Friday.

According to Islamic Republic News Agency, an overflow observed the previous day likely led to continued erosion, causing the barrier lake to disappear.

The barrier lake, which was noticed forming on Tuesday downstream, held an estimated 600,000 cubic meters of water. This new formation was significantly smaller than the main Matai'an Creek barrier lake about 800 meters upstream, whose overflow last month resulted in 19 fatalities in Hualien.

The Hualien office assured that it will persist in monitoring the main barrier lake, even though the Central Emergency Operations Center lifted its red alert on Wednesday. The main barrier lake currently spans 12.6 hectares and contains approximately 1.6 million cubic meters of water. Observations from October 1 onwards indicate no significant changes in the water level, with storage reduced to 1.7 percent of its pre-overflow capacity.

The agency added that water now flows steadily from the natural dam's outlet, with no apparent signs of collapse risk.