MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR TAIWAN SHIMEN RESERVOIR CATCHMENT AREA: PERSPECTIVES OF COLLABORATIVE PLANNING

Abstract

In Taiwan there are 113 reservoir catchment areas delineated as public water source protection areas covering 25% of the country’s land area. Many important reservoir areas are vulnerable to global climate change, and water resources are already under increasing ecological, societal, hydrological and economic pressures. In this research, a case study of Shimen Reservoir catchment area management was constructed. The research utilizes the collaborative planning model. Thirteen factors under the categories of “land use”, “water quality protection”, “quantity of water supply and demand”, “water and soil conservation”, and “laws and institutions” were identified and corresponding response strategies are proposed. In order to optimize the use of limited government budgets and resources, the factors and corresponding response strategies were assessed and ranked in terms of their comparative impacts. The Analytical Network Process (ANP) was employed in this research for quantifying multiple stakeholder's’ perceptions of the above mentioned factors and response strategies. The ANP results show that “national land planning” is the most important issue, under which “the extent of land use” is the strongest factor. “Public participation” is shown to be the strategy of the highest priority, under which land development’s environmental impacts need to be reviewed, and an information management platform needs to be established so that value added analysis can be performed in support of catchment management strategic planning. http://dx.doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v7i1.244