Zengwen Reservoir and Dapu Community Envision the Future Together

"Being located in the reservoir catchment area is both a limitation and an opportunity."

After the completion of Zengwen Reservoir in the 62nd year of the Republic of China (1973), more than 600 jia of land and more than 700 households in Dapu Township were submerged by the water, and most people relocated to areas adjacent to the reservoir, which is today's Dapu Community. Were it not for hearing the oral histories of local residents, it would be very hard to imagine that before the reservoir submerged the area, this place was once crisscrossed with rice paddies; and that the population was once large enough to support a theater here. (Theaters were extremely rare in rural areas; in the former Tainan County, apart from Madou, no other area had a theater.)

But for local residents, the income from developing ecotourism is unstable, and if it were up to them, they too would want as many tourists as possible. I recall the approach taken in Tugou, Houbi: community tourism is only run on Saturdays and Sundays, and the environment is left to recover on the remaining five days. "Green tourism should be thought of as a side business, not a main business. Running ecotourism all year round is something that needs to be corrected, so that residents can work their main occupations from Monday to Friday and still take care of their own lives. This is very important, and only then can it be a lasting and sustainable approach."

For this reason, the organic agriculture proposal that the students developed as an extension seems all the more important. "Dapu's water quality is very good, and crops are irrigated with natural mountain spring water. Also, because it is located in a water source protection area, pesticides are regulated, and this can become another kind of brand."

The teacher also added: "In Taiwan there are many reservoir-submerged areas similar to the Dapu area. Looking more broadly, how do other reservoir-submerged areas define where their opportunities lie? There can be further brainstorming. In environments with very high restrictions, the most important thing is that local people are willing to see these proposals as opportunities and want to participate further, and only then will there be subsequent feasibility."

Text edited BY The Editor

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