Some More Shots Of Agongdian Reservoir (阿公店 水庫)

At the southern end of the reservoir: the "Zhuo-shui" river to the left, and the "Wan-lai" river to the right.

On Sunday afternoon, I drove back down to Agongdian reservoir in Kaohsiung to walk the back trail along the eastern contour of the reservoir's main body of water. Driving slowly with Tinkerbell on the little bike took me just under an hour on my new route via the HSR station and the little farmer's roads through Alian district. Disappointingly, each of the two "inlets" I thought I had spied along the eastern contour from the top of Xiaogangshan hill turned out to be nothing more than cul de sacs. The diametric view toward these cul de sacs straight across the water from the crest of the dam lacks sufficient elevation to discern the contours - which is why I hadn't spotted them on earlier visits along the dam.

A panel mentioning the diversion channel from the Cishan river which, somehow, flows through Tianliao district under Freeway No 3.

Having spent two hours walking around the reservoir with my dog merely to eliminate one possibility, I decided to try one more question before leaving. In the Yanchao office I had previously seen a chart indicating the approximate route of the diversion channel from the Cishan river and the location of its entry point - toward the thin end of one of the two feeder rivers. I wanted to see if I could find another vantage point from which to photograph this supposed entry point...

The red contours chart the two feeder rivers with the blue lines marking out an artificial feeder channel that I suspected may have been the entry-point for the diversion channel.

Looking down upon the southern tail end of the presently stagnant Zhuo Shui river; the reservoir lies off camera further to the right.

The same view as above but further to the left; the view was obscured by trees with no trail leading down to the water's edge.

On the other side of the road around the back of the Zhuo Shui river, there is this pond to the south; the water from this pond passes under the road to enter the Zhuo Shui river and pass into the reservoir.

I am slightly uncertain whether the chart delineation of the diversion channel is accurate or not; if it is, then it means that the design capitalized on pre-existing infrastructure with limited access for repair or monitoring of water flow - namely, the pond pictured above and the tunnel under the road. This would be strange (however the diversion channel does make use of pre-existing [1978] infrastructure further to the east in the Cishan valley). I still think it's more likely that the diversion channel enters the reservoir at some other point.

Tinkerbell takes the lead in trudging back along the dam - at 2.3km in length it is easily the longest in Taiwan. Xiaogangshan hill is off to the left, with Dagangshan hill off to the right at a greater distance.

Tinkerbell was tired and thirsty after an hour and half of walking around under the mid-afternoon sun.

She came with me last Thursday when I climbed Xiaogangshan hill; these two trips are the first longish trips she's had since I adopted the other five dogs. 

She used to come with me everywhere, and I'd been feeling somewhat guilty for leaving her behind on my trips to northern Taiwan and elsewhere. I need a really big car to put them all in and take them with me.

Nephilia Pilipes; the golden orb weaver.

As large and spectacular as they are harmless; these spiders are a common sight throughout Taiwan. 

The problem of locating the diversion channel and its entry point remains unsolved. Hopefully, I might be able to finally crack it later this week depending on how much free time I'm going to get.