Wushantou Reservoir and Jianan Irrigation Waterways-Potential World Heritage Sites in Taiwan

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Wushantou Reservoir and Jianan Irrigation Waterways

國家｜

国家｜

Nation ｜

Taiwan

所在地｜

郡部｜

City ｜

Yunlin County, Chiayi County and Tainan City

方位｜

位置｜

GPS ｜

N23.35
E120.21

入選時間｜

選択した時間｜

Selected ｜

2009

特殊價值｜

特殊な値｜

Special ｜

1-1. Area of Coverage As the largest plain in Taiwan, the Jianan Plain occupies 250,000 hectare of land. It stretches from Huwei River in the north to Yanshui River in the south, covering a length of 130km and a width of 35km. The Wushantou Reservoir is 1,273 meters long and 56 meters high, with a water storage capacity of 150 million cubic meters. Since the Reservoir is surrounded by mountains and hills and shaped like a coral reef from an aerial view, it has also been given the name “Coral Lake.”

The Jianan Irrigation Waterways encompass both the Wushantou Reservoir system and the Zhuoshui River irrigation system. The Waterways supply water to an area of 50,000 hectares, covering the region north of Zhuoshui River to the south end of Beigang River.   Supervision of the Zhuoshui River irrigation system was transferred to the Taiwan Yunlin Irrigation Association in 1975. The Wushantou system remains under the supervision of the Taiwan Chia-Nan Irrigation Association.   Renowned Japanese engineer Yoichi Hatta was tasked with investigating the region for the purpose of building a dam. The original plan was to build a dam at Gueichong River (part of Jishui River), but after initial survey, the proposed location of the dam project was relocated to the upper stream of Guantian River.   Hatta also built a weir at Dapu Creek (part of the Zengwun River), altering the water to flow into the East Gate of Wushantou Reservoir. The water then passed through the Wushanling Diversion Tunnel before entering the West Gate of Wushantou Reservoir.   The Wushantou Reservoir is situated at the head of Guantian River, and water from the Reservoir runs through networks of canals and diversion dam gates to supply the Jianan Plain Irrigation Waterways.   Some of the earliest facilities constructed for the project include:   2-1. East Gate (Water Inlet from Zengun River) The East Gate is situated in Dapu Creek, the biggest branch river of the upper Zengwun River. The main structure of the East Gate serves as a river barrier, diverting water to flow through its upper, middle, and lower eight-holed gates. The East Gate work station controls the gates depending on the water level and intake, and there are passages connecting each gate.   2-2. Wushanling Diversion Tunnel The water flows into Wushanling Tunnel after passing through the East Gate. The tunnel is 3.1km long, U-shaped, and 5.45m in both height and width. Its inverted arch is made of concrete and the side walls are made of bricks. The gate of the tunnel is released to stem water flow when dam maintenance is required.   2-3. West Gate (Water Inlet from Guantien River) The contemporary distance between the exit of Wushanling Diversion Tunnel and the West Gate is about 1.5km, after which the water flows into the Wushantou Reservoir.   The original 1.6km-long channel for leading water to the West Gate was built on gullies, leading to fear over the steep slope’s potential detrimental impact on the tunnel. Therefore, No. 1 Earth Dike was constructed to stabilize the surrounding soil and a 20m-high drain hole at the center of the water basin was created to pump water into the Reservoir.   The project was planned in 1939 and completed in 1947, making it the first soil-and-water conservation facility created for the Reservoir. The beautiful scenery around the facility has earned it the nickname “Little Switzerland.”   To store the water flowing out from the Wushanling Diversion Tunnel, the Wushantou Reservoir was built in Guantian Township. It is one of the few dams constructed using the semi-hydraulic fill method that remain operational today.   The Reservoir is 56 meters tall, 1,273 meters wide, and stands 66.66 meters above sea level. The top of the Reservoir is 9 meters in width, and the bottom is 303 meters in width. It was constructed using 5.3 million cubic meters of rocks to fill in the breaches of the valley and form a huge water basin. Its primary inflows are from Dapu River and water is fed into the Reservoir through the Wushanling Diversion Tunnel.   It is a classic example of an off-site reservoir, boasting a water storage capacity of 154 by 106 cubic meters. Surface area amounts to a total of 13km² at full capacity, and its 58km² catchment basin encompasses theLiujia, Danei, Guantien, and Dongshan districts of Tainan County.   2-5. Spillway  The southern end of the Reservoir is equipped with a 636-meter-long and 10-meter-high chute spillway. The width of the spillway entrance is 130 meters and the width of its exit is 18 meters.   When maximum water level is topped at 58.18 meters, excesswater can be released from the Reservoir top at a speed of 1,502 cubic meters per second into Guantien River to prevent water from exceeding capacityand damaging the dam infrastructure. 2-6. Gatehouse and Stilling Basin Water then flows into a water tower at the center of the Reservoir before being processed for the stilling basin. The water tower is indiscernible when the Reservoir is at full capacity; only its steel-wire top can be seen above the water. Inside the tower, two penstocks both with a diameter of 2.73 meters deliver the water to 3 sub-sets of vaults, including a set of 6 pintle vaults, which then inject the water into the stilling basin to dissipate pressure and reduce speed. The two penstocks are of different lengths – 168.93 meters and 162.03 meters, respectively.    2-7. Kaplan Turbine and Surge Pools A surge pool at the left bank of the stilling basinwas once used together with a Kaplan turbine to provide power for the reservoir gates. The Kaplan turbine was manufactured by Hitachi and carried a capacity of 50 kilowatts. To protect the turbine, another surge pool was installed at the left bank of the stilling basin to release excess pressure from the water during the opening or closing of dam gates.   Hitachi once offered to replace the old machine with a newer model in return for ownership of the Kaplan turbine, but the offer was declined by the Taiwan Chia-Nan Irrigation Association. The turbine is currently preserved as a heritage relic.   The water is then transported by a 1.6km-long canal from the gatehouse and stilling basin to the irrigation network. The control station at the end of the canal is responsible for operating two flood gates and diverting water into the northern and southern irrigation networks. 2-9. Northern and Southern Irrigation Networks The 10km-long southern irrigation network runs through the districts of Guantian, Shanhua, and Hsinhua before dividing into branch canals such as the Madou branch, Shanhua branch, and southern branch to supply water for central and southern Taiwan.   The 47.9km-long northern irrigation network runs through the districts of Guantian, Liujia, Liuying, Dongshan, and Houbi in Tainan, as well as Shuishang Township, Taibao City, and Xingang Township in Chiayi County.   The northern irrigation network also supplies water to the regions of Liufengying, Xinying, Bazhang River, Puzi, and Dongshi before ending at the south shore of Beigang River. Altogether, the northern network provides for all of northern Tainan and Chiayi County townships, except for the mountainous regions.   At the start of the Jianan Irrigation Waterways construction, engineers had already developed the idea of combining the Zhoushui irrigation network supplied by Zhoushui River with the Jianan northern irrigation network supplied by the Wushantou Reservoir. A culvert was built at the end of the reservoir-based northern network to connect the Jianan waters to the run-of-the-river Zhoushui network.   2-10. Irrigation and Drainage Systems An irrigation system depends on primary sources like large, medium, and small water-carrying canals, secondary sources like rivers, and tertiary sources like surface runoff and groundwater seepage from rainfall. As such, arable land is irrigated by an even distribution of irrigation and drainage systems.   The complete Jianan Irrigation Waterways encompass 1,056km in large drainage canals, and 6,000km in medium and small drainage canals. Many of its drainage systems, including the Yanshui River drainage system, have a water catchment area of more than 10,000 hectares.   The drainage network contributed greatly to the agricultural production, urban environment, and mining operations in the Jianan region by maintaining ecological balance and ensuring the prosperity and continuation of people’s lives. 2-11. Levees The Jianan Irrigation Waterways were constructed before the science of hydraulic engineering was fully developed in Taiwan, and technology had yet to introduce concepts such as flood banks and embankment. Instead, levees such as the 226km-long Liujiao Levee were built alongside entire rivers to prevent flooding.Today, many of such levees have been replaced by river flood banks; those that remain have been reinforced and serve as a secondary line of defense against flooding.   Levees as long as 104km were also build along coastal regions to protect farm land and water sources from saltwater intrusion and soil salinization. These coastal flood prevention levees were also equipped with automatic floodgates. Today, the levee system has been replaced by coastal embankment.   2-12. Irrigated Area The Wushantou Reservoir and its waterways were divided into two main irrigation networks upon completion – the Wushantou Northern and Southern Networks and the Zhuoshui Irrigation Network. The Wushantou irrigation area covered 83,000 hectares in Tainan City and Chiayi County, and the Zhuoshui irrigation area covered 43,000 hectares in Yunlin County. Moreover, there were 26,000 hectares of special irrigation areas that took water from rivers and ponds. In total, 152,000 hectares benefitted from the irrigation networks.   2-12-1. Irrigation Implementation Irrigation began in 1930 upon the completion of the waterways. The distribution of water, waterway maintenance, discharge schedule, and irrigation requirements have since been managed by the Taiwan Chia-Nan Irrigation Association. The association also trains farmers on water supply management.   2-12-2. Economic Gains of Irrigation The association helped to improve the land condition of Jianan Plain, which used to suffer from both droughts and downpours, and changed the landscape of barren lands and aquaculture farms along the coast. Within three years, Jianan Plain was supporting productive farms and sugarcane fields.   Compared with the time before the construction of waterways (before and after 1930), the average profit per hectare had soared from NT$90.47 to NT$742.30, which was eight times the previous figure. Land price also increased more than five times from NT$313 to NT$1,600 per hectare.   Regarding the total farming area, paddy fields increased from 13,160 hectares to 41,828 hectares, with the harvest amount increasing by 6.4 times. The sugarcane fields also increased from 31,486 hectares to 45,321 hectares, with the harvest amount increasing by 3.4 times.   Although the area for miscellaneous crops was reduced from 89,689 hectares to 40,065 hectares, the production output increased by 0.7 times due to the improvement of land quality. About 13,400 hectares of barren fields were also turned into farmable land.

3-1. The Conditions of Jianan Plain a Century Ago   3-1-1. Natural Environment of Jianan Visitors coming from northern Taiwan will spot the grassy Jianan Plain upon crossing Zhoushui River in Changhua County. Appearing as an endless alluvial plain, Jianan Plain is scented with the aroma of growing rice and dotted with hilly sugarcane fields, farmhouses, and ponds.   However, over a century ago, Jianan Plain was a barren and desolate place, flooded by each downpour. Farmers could only rely on good weather for harvests, as flood swept away crops in the rainy season while the dry season rendered the fields unproductive.   Thus, despite occupying 240,000 hectares of land, the barren Jinan Plain was unproductive for farming. The annual monsoons brought strong winds and heavy rains, creating regions that were either dry like deserts or salty like marshes.   The establishment of the Jianan Irrigation Waterways resolved the climatic issues that plaguedJianan Plain and made it the cornucopia of Taiwan.   3-1-2. Jianan under Qing Dynasty During the Qing dynasty, Dutch colonists and local residents built several facilities to store and channel water for irrigation. By the time Kangxi Emperor came to power, there were 82 such facilities in Jianan that used small ponds or rivers to channel water for irrigation. However, each facility could only serve a small area ranging from a dozen to hundreds of hectares. The total irrigated area was only about 5,000 hectares.   Today, remains of a Dutch-constructed irrigation facility stands in the Wushantou Reservoir. Other Qing-era remnants include several irrigation ponds in Tainan that were constructed during Chinese General Zheng Chenggong’s rule – Chengtien Pond, Gongye Pond (current Bizitou at Guanmiao District), Biyi Pond (current Xiangyangzi at Xinhua District), Cao Pond (current Datan at Guiren District), Bizitou Pond (current Bizitou at Rende District), Wulauye Pond (current Taiye at Guiren District), and Xiangguan Pond (current Bizitou at Guiren District).   Han Chinese immigrants also brought their hydraulic engineering knowledgeto Taiwan, which helped to add value to Taiwan’s lands and brought prosperity to local residents. Their belief on how land ownership drives prosperity has since been assimilated by Taiwanese culture as well.   3- 2. Establishment of the Jianan Irrigation Waterways   3-2-1. Farmers’ Petition During Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan, Jianan residents petitioned Japanese authorities to improve their irrigation to boast productivity. The Japanese Governor of Chiayi thus decided to reference Taoyuan’s experience of building ponds to store water for the dry season, and asked the Japanese government for permission to build a similar facility in the Jianan region. In response, the Civil Engineering Office sent renowned engineer Yoichi Hatta on a two-week survey to Jishui River and Liuchung River to evaluate the possibility of building a dam.   The survey determined that the terrain near Guantian River, a branch of Zengwun River, was suitable for building a dam. A waterways project using water from Guantian River was drafted in 1917, and in the following year, local representatives were sent to ask the governors of Chiayi and Tainan to implement the project. Thus began the establishment of the Jianan Irrigation Waterways.   3-3-2. Implementation Initial research concluded that it would require an immense budget to construct ponds and waterways similar to those in Taoyuan. Therefore, the Japanese government decided to collaborate with the private sector instead. The budget for the project was reviewed by the parliament, and the proposal was sent to the governors of Chiayi and Tainan in November 1919.   The Japanese governors of Tainan and Chiayi served as co-directors of the project, while the preparation committee was comprised of officers from the Tainan and Chiayi governor’s offices. Representatives from sugar manufacturing companies, governor counselors, borough chiefs, and rich landlords also joined the project as part of the establishment committee.   In August 1920, 118 representatives – including Jianan native Chen Hung-ming – proposed a new plan, which was subsequently approved by the government. The plan was made official after identifying the area of public waterways and related business in accordance to the second article of the “Regulations of Taiwan Public Waterways.”   Under the new plan, the proposed irrigated area had increased to nearly 150,000 hectares at an estimated cost of 42 million Japanese yen. The Japanese government subsidized 12 million, while local farmers paid the remaining 30 million. The whole project, which was supervised by the government, became a joint venture between the public and private sector.

Criterion I: The Wushantou Reservoir and the Jianan Irrigation Waterways were completed in 1930 during an era of intermediate hydraulic engineering knowledge. The dam was constructed using the semi-hydraulic fill method, which prevented sand deposits and imposed little damage to the surrounding environment, adding to its unique position in the world.   In addition, its three-year rotational irrigation system, which tripled the number of farmerswho benefitted from the system, was an irrigational breakthrough. Thus, as masterpieces of human creative genius, the Wushantou Reservoir and the Jianan Irrigation Waterways meet the first criterion of UNESCO’s world heritage register.   Criterion IV: The Wushantou Reservoir and the Jianan Irrigation Waterways embody the exemplary irrigation planning and engineering techniques pioneered by the late Japanese engineer Yoichi Hatta in the 1920s. The beautiful scenery of the Coral Lake and the beautiful functionality of Hatta’s engineering form an invaluable historic landscape that meets the fourth criterion.

5-1. History of the Taiwan Chia-Nan Irrigation Association   5-1-1. History of the Association’s Title <ul> <li>The association was established over 90 years ago on Sept. 1, 1920. It was named the “Kuan-Tien Chi Public Canal Cooperative” and renamed as the “Public Chia-Nan Canal Cooperative” the next year.</li> <li>In June 1944, the association assimilated the six cooperatives of Xinfeng, Xinhua, Xinying, Chiayi, Douliu, and Huwei to become the “Chia-Nan Irrigation Cooperative.”</li> <li>The association was renamed again as the “Chia-Nan Canal Irrigation Council” in 1946 and re-organized as the “Chia-Nan Irrigation Association” in 1956.</li> <li>On Jan. 1, 2013, it was renamed as the “Taiwan Chia-Nan Irrigation Association.”</li> </ul>   5-1-2. History of the Association’s Jurisdiction <ul> <li>From 1920 to 1974, the association was responsible for 150,000 hectares of irrigated land extending from below Zhuoshui River to the north of Erren River. The area was governed by Tainan State, which translates to the contemporary region of Yunlin, Chiayi, and Tainan (five cities and counties in total).</li> <li>In January 1975, the area from below Zhuoshui River to the north of Beigang River was reassigned to the Taiwan Yunlin Irrigation Association.</li> <li>According to 2013 statisticsthe Taiwan Chia-Nan Irrigation Association currently supervises a 74,701-hectare area from below Beigang River to the north of Erren River.</li> </ul>   5-1-3. History of the Association’s Office <ul> <li>In August 1919, the Kuan-Tien Chi Public Canal Cooperative, predecessor of the Jianan Irrigation Waterways, was established. In November of the same year, the Wushantou Reservoir project was launched, setting the stage for the eventual establishment of the Taiwan Chia-Nan Irrigation Association.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>In 1920, a preparation committee for the Kuan-Tien Chi Public Canal Cooperative was established in both Tainan and Chiayi. In September, an office was set up in Chiayi (No. 26 Third Avenue of Beimen District in Chiayi). This office became Chiayi’s tax office in 1940.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>In April 1921, the cooperative was renamed as the “Public Chia-Nan Cooperative” and established a new office in Wushantou. The cooperative also began to build a multifunctional administrative office in Chiayi (the old address was listed as No. 350, Chiayi Street, Xialutou Village, Chiayi County; the corresponding contemporary address is listed as No. 225, Chuiyang Road, Tenth Neighborhood, Xinnan Village, Chiayi City).</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>In July 1931, the administrative office was relocated from Chiayi to Tainan State, and became part of the Tainan Governor’s Office.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>In 1940, to accommodate the burgeoning business of the Public Chia-Nan Cooperative, a new office building was established in Tainan (the old address was listed as No. 11, 11-5 Xing Section, Tainan City; the corresponding contemporary address is listed as No. 25, Yu-Ai St., Tainan City). An annual investment of 150,000 yen was made for two years in a row to build the three-story office. During the construction, the ongoing war tied up resources, and construction of the third-floor office was suspended after the second-floor office and the third-floor meeting room were completed in 1942. The total cost of the new office building was 249,000 yen.  </li> <li>After the retrocession of Taiwan in August 1945, the first-floor office was used by the Tainan Gendarmerie. After a series of negotiations, the Taiwan Gendarmerie relocated elsewhere and the third floor was fully completed in 1967.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>In 1997, the dormitory, garage, and wooden storage unit on the east side of the office were demolished to make way for a new four-story building. The new complex is connected to the original administrative building to offer more comprehensive services.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>The building was designated as a historic site by the Tainan City Government in 1998. </li> </ul>

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Wushantou Reservoir and Jianan Irrigation Waterways

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