Assessment of man-made ponds on flood retention and water resources management

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the applicability of man-made ponds on assisting regional water resources management. The domain of interest is the water supply district of the Shihmen Reservoir, especially the water straitened Taoyuan area in northern Taiwan. To overcome the shortage of irrigation water in the past, numerous man-made ponds were excavated in the Taoyuan area to storage water in wet days. Due to the development of industry and economics in recent years, some farmlands were replaced by buildings and plants and the agricultural purposes of these man-made ponds have no longer existed. However, flooding and drought are still two natural hazards frequently invading this area. The possibility of given new functions to past man-made ponds will be explored in this study. Field investigation will be conducted to identify the drainage area, connecting canals, and the associated farmland sizes for selecting target ponds for further analyses. Hydrological analyses will be conducted to evaluate the capability of using man-made ponds for flood retention. System dynamic simulations will be performed to evaluate the feasibility of man-made ponds on assisting water resources during drought, as well as the possibility of applying natural purification mechanisms to improve the water quality of man-made ponds.