Massive Flooding Spurs Calls for Land Protection

According to figures from the Central Weather Bureau, 90 locations across Taiwan recorded rainfall measuring over 1000 millimeters over the first six days of July. Taoyuan Rural Township in Kaohsiung County recorded over 2000 millimeters of rain, a once-a-century level, and more than would usually be recorded over an entire year. One resident said it was as if "the heavens themselves split open and drained completely." According to data from the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, prior to this flooding, landslides and subsidence throughout Taiwan so far this year measured at a total of over 50,000 tonnes, with 1420 waterways running through areas of potential landslides. All that was needed was one almighty storm to unleash more slips; Taiwan's mountainous areas have already been overdeveloped to the point where they simply can't hold their own against decent storms.

Central Taiwan was the area hardest hit by the flooding, and the Central Cross-Island Highway, running through the Tachia River valley, was the most prominent victim.

The highway is home to some amazing scenery and priceless tourist spots. However, the development of the road through the mountains, threading through the medium- and high-altitude orchards and vegetable farms, has led to a boom in construction of tourist guesthouses. This excessive development has caused grave problems, including increased erosion and runoff, the pollution of Tachia River with agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, and eutrophication of the Techi Reservoir.

Since the 921 quake, several academics have voiced support for closing the highway to give the forests that lie alongside it a chance to recover. They have, however, faced strong opposition from local residents of the area, and so the government has instead put a large amount of money into repair work on the highway. Originally this repair work was due to be completed at the end of July, but with damage from the recent flooding being even more severe than that caused by the quake, the issue of closure versus repair has once again come to the fore. Vice-chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development Chang Ching-sen has said "If we're not meant to have the road there, then we shouldn't try and force it through-we don't want the highway to become a constant liability."

Another similar case is that of Tachia River. This high-flow river's path covers a range of altitudes, 90% of it passing through mountains and plateaus. Tachia River's potential for hydroelectric power generation is the highest in Taiwan, and as such it has become the island's hydroelectric heart.

However, the overdevelopment of mountain land, along with the effects of the 921 quake, has made mountain slopes less stable, with rainstorms causing landslides on several occasions, gradually raising the riverbed levels. Because of this, the useful life of Taiwan's reservoirs looks unlikely to go beyond 60 years now.

Take the Kukuan Hydroelectric Power Plant, which lies downstream from the Chingshan Reservoir. Dormant since Typhoon Toraji, with reconstruction work still in progress, the plant suffered another major blow from Typhoon Mindulle. But, even facing over NT$10 billion in total damage to the six plants along Tachia River, president of Taipower Lin Neng-pai still made it clear that "we will not give up so easily."

On the other side we have the dean of National Sun Yat-sen University's Center for Water Resource Studies, Chen Pang-fu. Chen is of the opinion that despite the invaluable contributions of the Tachia plants to Taiwan's early economic growth, the accumulation of silt in Tachia River has lessened their generation capacities, and the time has come to tear down the dams and let the river return to its original condition.

When it comes to utilization of mountain land, there are a number of very detailed regulations in the Slopeland Conservation and Utilization Act that need to be followed. However, the authority responsible for enforcing these regulations hasn't been given enough power to do so effectively, making them difficult to implement.

For example, the Veterans' Affairs Commission's Chingjing Farm, along with the nearby Forestry Bureau land, protected Aboriginal territory, and leased woodlands all used to be tightly supervised to ensure they adhered to regulations. However, in an effort to help tourism bounce back after the 921 quake, the government chose not to prosecute too strictly, which has led to wave after wave of newcomers setting up guesthouse after guesthouse.

While the mountain areas were hit by rockfalls and flooding, thanks to subterranean water supplies being overused, coastal areas have fallen victim to severe subsidence, leading to coastal flooding, with the floodwaters being trapped and unable to recede. In the coastal towns of Taihsi, Kouhu, and Shuilin in Yunlin County, residents have paid little heed to the concept of water usage rights, overextending the water supply by drilling wells to irrigate their farmlands. Local government officials have done little to stop this, fearing either a loss of votes or a loss of public favor. Instead, they relied on building up dikes for flood protection. Meanwhile more and more water pumping plants have dried up. None of this has done anything to lessen the threat of flooding.

After the flooding, "giving the land back to Nature" seems to have become a nationwide catch-cry. But what about the people who live up in those mountain areas? Every time a typhoon strikes, people bring up the possibility of relocating those villages, and once again this idea has become a hot topic.

Places like the Aboriginal town of Sunghe in Tungshih Township, Taichung County; the village of Shenmu, Hsinyi Rural Township, Nantou County; and Fengshan Village, on Alishan in Chiayi County, were severely hit by the typhoon. Premier Yu Shyi-kun has said that if the residents of a village agree to relocate, the government will assist them in finding a safe new location.

However, although relocation could solve the problem, it is far from simple, involving matters of politics, economics, and industry, the search for new locations, and of course popular sentiment.

In fact, Shenmu Village had already started considering relocation after Typhoon Herb in 1996. However, the tract of forest land the government offered for the purpose, which was being used by National Taiwan University at the time, was wiped out by the July flooding. All the government would be able to provide, after finding the land, would be new public buildings, with the rest of the relocation costs having to be covered by fundraising by the disaster-stricken residents. This was somewhat less than the villagers had been hoping for, and was one of the main reasons they went off the idea.

In a rush to complete the cleanup before the next typhoon hits, central and local governments have put as much effort as possible into the task, dispatching heavy machinery and other vehicles to reopen the roads, and other resources to help reconnect the utilities, clean up homes and businesses, and try and get affected residents' lives back to normal as soon as possible. Companies like Chinatrust Bank and Megaholdings have contributed millions of dollars in disaster relief, while consumer electronics companies like Tatung, Sampo, and Teco have donated household appliances to families hard-hit by the flooding.

However, when compared with the period after the 921 quake, public donations this time have been decidedly under-whelming. Nantou County, which was seriously damaged by the floods, received over NT$20 billion in donations after the 921 quake, but has received less than NT$10 million since the flooding. Local governments of the areas hardest hit by the flooding have had to make appeals for the public to start donating money rather than supplies, so they can fund the rebuilding work.

Since the typhoon, meetings by members of Academia Sinica have produced proposals suggesting to the Legislative Yuan that they immediately re-examine the Geological Act and start working on comprehensive legislation covering land use and conservation, setting a benchmark for future development. Mao Ho-kuang, a researcher in geophysics at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in the US, also made a proposal that the Taiwanese government establish a "Land Regulation Council" which would be responsible for planning future land development and utilization.

Older ideas of "land protection" may have tried to take into account issues of lifestyle, productivity, and ecology while also incorporating principles of conservation, but their planners had no way of predicting where the nation's economy would head-well beyond the limits of what they had planned for. Several policies regarding conservation have ended up being turned on their heads thanks to uneven implementation, with reforestation giving way to deforestation, and rivers being seriously harmed by people profiteering from sand and gravel dredged from the riverbeds.

By confronting us with all of these natural disasters, our land is crying out for us to re-examine our old, outdated ideas of rebuilding and our search for quick fixes. We need to cut back on the pace of land development, and we need to give the land room to breathe, to give Nature control again.

Rehabilitation of our land is by no means an impossible dream: take the tale of Hehsing Village in Chungliao Rural Township, Nantou County. Practically the entire village was wiped out by the 921 quake. Despite pressure to relocate, the villagers decided to trade their betelnuts for trees, with the village's 220 households planting 320,000 new trees over three years. These trees, having taken root now, helped the village weather Typhoon Mindulle.

The flooding of July 2 was a howl of agony from Mother Earth; by inflicting this great injury to herself, she is trying to get Taiwan to take action and protect her. The major construction projects that are still on the books can be put through, as long as they are done with a sense of discipline and consideration for the future. If we put some thought into our actions, we can avoid repeating our past mistakes and start along the road toward letting modern development sit harmoniously alongside Mother Nature.