A novel flood management strategy to plan eco-industry development in areas of coastal land-subsidence in Taiwan

Because of limited freshwater resources, urban and industrial areas in Taiwan are often given priority for allocation of water resources. Accordingly, residents in rural regions usually pump groundwater for irrigation and daily needs. Continuous land subsidence has resulted in the elevation of the ground surface to be lower than the sea level, which has led to frequent flooding and created wetland habitats. In addition, seawater intrusion has damaged the soil, which has made the land difficult to farm. This study proposes a novel concept called the Island Lake Eco-town Program that would send the surface runoff from stormwater into a flood buffer wetland through land elevation modification and the necessary levee construction. Except for the use of stormwater to leach salt from the soil, we propose growing salt tolerant crops. Yunlin County of Taiwan has been selected as a study area to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed method. This study also demonstrated how to evaluate the available production of rice growth in saline soils. Key words: island lake eco-town program, salt tolerant plants, coastal wetland, land subsidence, sea intrusion, eco- industry. Les zones urbaines et industrielles en Taiwan ont souvent la priorite pour l'obtention des ressources aquatiques en raison des ressources limitees en eau fraiche. Ainsi, les residents des regions rurales pompent habituellement de l'eau souterraine pour leurs besoins d'irrigation et quotidiens. L'affaissement continu du sol a engendre un abaissement de la surface du sol sous le niveau de la mer, menant a des inondations subsequentes et a la creation d'habitats marecageux. De plus, l'intrusion d'eau salee a endommage le sol, rendant la terre difficile a exploiter. La presente etude propose un nouveau concept, nomme Island Lake Eco-town Program, qui permet d'acheminer l'ecoulement de surface dans OU vers un marecage tampon grace a la modification du niveau du terrain et la construction requise d'une digue. Sauf pour l'utilisation de l'eau de ruissellenient pour laver le sel du sol, nous proposons de cultiver des plantes halophytes. Le comte Yunlin, Taiwan, a ete choisi comme zone d'etude afin d'evaluer la faisabilite de la methode proposee. La presente etude demontre egalement la maniere d'evaluer la production disponible de riz cultive dans des sols salins. Mots-cles : Island Lake Eco-town Program, plantes halophytes, marecages cotiers, affaissement du sol, invasion marine, eco-industrie.
[Traduit par la Redaction] Introduction Groundwater is one of the most important freshwater resources of the world. Usually, a groundwater system remains in equilibrium (such that discharge equals recharge) prior [...]