I had avoided taking pictures along the drive from Taichung into Nantou in order to save time and so my first shot of the day was this one below, taken from a little elementary school overlooking the north end of the reservoir...
Here is the same shot taken further from the right to encompass part of the mud that clogs up the river's entrance into the reservoir...
At 149 million cubic meters in capacity, Wan-Da reservoir is one of Taiwan's larger reservoirs (the sixth-largest) and is fed by Taiwan's largest river, the Zhuo-shui river which runs westward through central Taiwan out of Nantou. Like Taiwan's other large mountain reservoirs Wan-Da reservoir has a major siltation problem, though I gather the problem is significantly worse at Wan-Da than elsewhere. Here is a shot from the north-west looking eastward to the bend where the clogged-up river enters the reservoir...Here is the same shot taken further from the right to encompass part of the mud that clogs up the river's entrance into the reservoir...
I followed the road down to the south end of the reservoir. One of the questions that was prompted from examining google maps and streetview the day before was whether the access road which departs from the main road running parallel to the reservoir would be gated or not. This access road runs all the way down to the dam. I found it to be ungated, but that there was a security checkpoint further down where I was prevented from looking around the dam and intake tower. I would have liked to have asked the old security guard technical questions about the dam and the reservoir and I would like to think that, despite him being only a security guard, there should be a reasonable chance that he would know the answers. Unfortunately, he was, as they usually are, suspicious of me and so even if he had known the answers I guessed he probably would not have told me anything useful that I didn't already know. He allowed me to walk around the immediate vicinity to take pictures but that was it. My other disappointment was that there was no sign of a management office there where I could at least have asked for tourist literature. Here is the view toward the upstream face of the dam from only a slight elevation above the water...
And here is a view looking back upstream at a slight angle to the reservoir's axis...
After I rejoined the main road I turned south again and quickly found the litte hill with some kind of hostel or coffee shop at the top (closed) which has probably the most popular view from which to take pictures of Wan-Da reservoir. This one was with the 18mm lens...
And this next one was with the 10mm lens to squeeze myself into the shot...
This next shot was taken with the 300mm pointed toward the north end of the reservoir but with the focus retracted back slightly to take in something of the skyline...
And here is the same shot but with the 300mm extended to its' full reach; note the little motorboat heading north-west and the enormous, glacier-like presence of the river's silted residue...
Whilst on top of the little hill I took a few more shots with my 300mm mounted on my tripod; below is the best view I could manage of the upstream face of the dam and the spillway gates...
Next, there is this shot of the debris-catchment line accompanied by three motorized and roofed pontoons...
On either side of the reservoir there were little houseboats floating close to the shoreline, presumably used for weekend fishing rather than water testing. Here are three near the eastern shore (with a fourth partially hidden in the background)...
And another three near the western shore with a small floating platform in front of them...
My major disappointment for the day was on finding that there was only one road that went anywhere near the downstream face of the dam and that it was blocked off for use solely by Taipower employees; Wan-Da reservoir has a major hydro-electric power plant downstream from the dam and public access is restricted. Here is where the water flows out of the plant to let the Zhuoshui river continue downstream...
Disappointed though I was, the weather was still glorious as the clock got around to 11am. This vertical shot below shows the hillside sandwiched between the still-blue sky and the river below...
The Zhuoshui river leaving the hydro-electric power plant to run its' muddy course downstream...
The main road (the Nantou 83) leaves the reservoir behind and snakes its way south-westward following the Zhuoshui river through the valleys. It was a long drive with the sun approaching its' zenith. I stopped at one point to photograph what is listed on google maps as "Wu Jie reservoir" (武界水庫) but is elsewhere referred to as the "Wu-Jie adjustment pool" (武界調整池)...
If I understand correctly, the two dam-and spillway sets at Wu-Jie perform three functions, the first of which is power generation via the dam on the right, and the second is to tunnel water downhill through subterrannean pipes to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) via the dam on the left. The third function is flood control on the river itself.
A shot of the dam on the right taken with the 300mm at full stretch...
And a view of the dam on the left also taken with the 300mm at full stretch. The spillway is to the right and the water enters the penstock and tunnel through the gated apertures to the left. Further to the left of the image there is a tunnel entrance which is for the Nantou-83; later I had to drive through there...
Out on the other side, the 83 crosses a small bridge over the Zhuoshui river after which it's route is picked up by the 71 and it begins to climb up into the hills. I stopped briefly here to drink and look down over the valley below...
At its' peak the 71 goes through a lengthy and chilly tunnel after which it rewards you with a north-westward view overlooking Puli township (埔里鎮)...
I stopped at Puli for a much needed rest and then left just after 12pm on the 131 south to Sun Moon Lake. My first objective was to get to the old train station at Checheng for 2pm in order to catch the 2.20pm train to Ershui in Changhua county. However, I also wanted to take in something of Sun Moon Lake and Mingtan and perhaps also Minghu reservoirs to the west of the lake. I had never been to Sun Moon Lake before though of course I had heard that traffic around the lake on weekends is extremely crowded. It was indeed that. I decided to stop briefly to take pictures at one point along a relatively uncongested stretch of highway 21 which rings the lake...
I have to say that Sun Moon Lake is more beautiful than I had expected it to be, but of course it was aided in this by the still-glorious weather. The other thing about it is that it is very large and it is easy to see why some people think it is the largest body of freshwater in Taiwan (in actual fact, it is only 8 square kilometers in area, which is smaller than both Tseng-wen and Wushantou reservoirs).
I did not stay long however as I was anxious to get down into Shuili township and up to the old train station at Checheng beneath the Mingtan dam. I arrived before 2pm with plenty of time to spare so I took some shots overlooking the reservoir behind the Mingtam dam before I headed down into Checheng itself...
I took some tourist literature about Mingtan dam and its' hydroelectric power plants and then went in search of some beers to take with me on the train since I was parched, stinking and exhausted. The view from the tiny little platform at Checheng up toward the dam; part of the old railway has been turned into a plaything for the children and there is a wood museum and many and many shops.
Checheng is where I parked my bike for the next trip, which will either be to Mingtan and Minghu reservoirs plus Sun Moon Lake, or it will be straight north up into the mountains of Taichung to see Deiji reservoir. I've yet to decide.
what are those concrete like studs by the spillway gate? It appears silt sediment is an issue. At least in Twn you have water. I am in CA all reservoirs showing tire, buried old bridges and mud.... Where is the rain?
ReplyDeleteSam Shueh, 9/18/14
"what are those concrete like studs by the spillway gate?"
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you are referring to Sam, but I would guess you are talking about the "studs" in the mountainside above the entrapment pen for the tunnel at the Wu Jie adjustment pool (image 21). I believe they are drainage pipe casings with the pipes inserted into the mountainside to help alleviate internal erosion from rainwater seepage. They are a common feature of retaining walls throughout Taiwan's countryside, though they usually do not appear with square concrete casings.
"It appears silt sediment is an issue."
Yes, this is common to most of the on-stream designs in Taiwan. Both Wan-Da reservoir and the Wu-Jie adjustment pool lie on the Zhuoshui river which is surprisingly broad and slow-moving, even as far upstream as this.
"At least in Twn you have water. I am in CA all reservoirs showing tire, buried old bridges and mud.... Where is the rain?"
Yes, I'm very pleased we have water. Is not California naturally rich in rivers and abundant rainfall? Or is the problem one of decaying infrastructure and dysfunctional government?