木瓜溪流域水資源利用與地方發展：社會生態系統韌性與調適性循環動態

Abstract

本文奠定研究理論基礎，將C. S. Holling 提出的「適應循環」與「層級理論」，首次系統性應用於台灣花東縱谷吉安地區，建構一套結合地方系統、歷時變遷與韌性轉化的分析框架，突顯地方人地系統在政權更替、殖民經驗、自然災害等多重衝擊下的動態演化歷程。特別聚焦於木瓜溪水資源的開發、治理與爭奪歷程，展現此一核心自然資源如何成為地方農業、聚落與治理制度演變的關鍵節點。透過跨尺度、多階段的分析，呈現理論在地方治理與農業轉型研究上的延展性與適用性，並結合「生態韌性」與「地方意識」的理論視角，闡述地方如何在歷史變遷中展現回復力、調適力與轉型力。以吉安地區為實例，說明地方社會在面對自然與制度擾動時，如何透過對水資源的治理經驗、文化認同、地方知識與社群互動，重構土地關係與社會結構。此章強調地方韌性不僅仰賴外部制度資源，更深植於居民對歷史、土地與文化的深層認同與實踐。藉由「歷時—多尺度—交互演化」的分析框架，深化地方韌性的理解。從歷時性出發，解析吉安自清領、日治至戰後的演化，特別指出木瓜溪流域水權變遷與灌溉體系建構的制度痕跡，顯示地方系統在長時段內逐步累積的調適能力；從多尺度分析中揭示木瓜溪作為自然資源與治理場域，如何連結地方與國家乃至全球制度的互動；從交互演化觀點則說明社會、制度與生態三者如何共同形塑地方回應干擾的能力。此框架補足過往韌性研究對歷史與文化維度的忽略，為地方研究提供理論創新。以吉安農業與聚落的歷史演變為核心，強調地方韌性根源於內生性要素，包括在地知識、文化記憶與族群互動。透過七腳川事件、日治時期農場治理、戰後漢原共構，以及木瓜溪灌溉網絡的歷史重構與分配協商等脈絡，說明地方社會如何發展出應對制度轉變與環境干擾的調適策略，文化記憶與在地實踐並非靜態保存，而是持續在地方居民的生活實踐中被詮釋、再生與轉化。再者，聚焦在地方面對外來制度與治理干擾時，如何展現轉型能力與內部反轉機制。以吉安地區為例，闡述地方社群在面對國家政策、經濟全球化、氣候變遷與災害風險等衝擊下，如何依循適應循環歷程由「釋放（Ω）階段」進入「再組織（α）階段」，並逐步開展地方創生與資源重構的行動策略。木瓜溪水資源治理的反覆調整與在地水權協調制度的建立，成為地方社群展現治理創新的典範。地方居民透過記憶治理、知識再生與跨域合作等方式，打破體制僵化與資源依賴，進而重建與土地、文化、制度的連結，展現具在地主體性的韌性反轉機制。亦強調「記憶與創新」、「災後重建與轉型」等面向在地方轉型歷程中的關鍵角色。最後，總結全篇研究提出適應循環與層級理論在地方應用中的三項創新貢獻：（一）補足原理論對歷史文化與地方脈絡的忽略，強調地方制度記憶與文化實踐在韌性重建中的關鍵性；（二）提出以「交互演化」為核心的動態視角，深化韌性理論對地方發展的適用性；（三）強調多尺度治理與地方創新的互動關係，展現制度擾動也可能成為地方重構的契機。最後，本文針對地方治理、農業政策與災後重建提出政策建議，呼籲未來應從地方視角出發，重視社群參與與文化知識傳承，並將水資源治理納入文化韌性思維之中，發展具備制度反思能力與資源永續性的地方發展策略。This study establishes a theoretical foundation by systematically applying C. S. Holling’s “adaptive cycle” and “panarchy theory” for the first time to the Ji’an region of Taiwan’s East Longitudinal Valley. It constructs an analytical framework that integrates local systems, historical transformations, and resilience dynamics, highlighting the evolving trajectories of human-environment interactions under regime changes, colonial experiences, and natural disturbances. Focusing specifically on the development, governance, and contestation of the Mugua River’s water resources, this research reveals how this vital natural resource has become a pivotal node in the transformation of local agriculture, settlement patterns, and governance institutions. Through cross-scale and multi-phased analysis, the study demonstrates the extensibility and applicability of these theories to local governance and agricultural transition research. It further combines perspectives of ecological resilience and place-based identity to explore how local communities exhibit resilience, adaptability, and transformability in the face of historical disruptions. Using Ji’an as a case study, the research shows how local society responds to both environmental and institutional perturbations by reconstructing land relations and social structures through water governance practices, cultural identity, local knowledge, and community interaction. It emphasizes that local resilience relies not only on external institutional resources but also deeply on residents’ historical, territorial, and cultural attachments and practices.By employing a framework of “diachronic, multi-scalar, and co-evolutionary” analysis, the study deepens the understanding of local resilience. From a diachronic perspective, it traces Ji’an’s transformation from the Qing period through Japanese rule to the postwar era, with special attention to changes in water rights and the institutional legacy of irrigation systems in the Mugua River watershed, revealing the long-term accumulation of local adaptive capacities. Multi-scalar analysis uncovers how the Mugua River, as a natural resource and governance arena, mediates interactions between local, national, and even global institutions. The co-evolutionary perspective highlights the mutual shaping of social, institutional, and ecological systems in building local capacities to respond to disturbance. This approach addresses prior resilience studies’ neglect of historical and cultural dimensions and introduces theoretical innovation for place-based research. Centering on the historical evolution of Ji’an’s agriculture and settlements, it underscores that local resilience stems from endogenous elements such as situated knowledge, cultural memory, and interethnic relations. Through contexts such as the Qijiaochuan Incident, Japanese-era farm management, postwar Han-Indigenous cohabitation, and the historical reconstruction and negotiation of the Mugua River’s irrigation network, the study demonstrates how local communities have developed adaptive strategies in response to institutional shifts and environmental challenges. Cultural memory and local practice are shown not as static inheritances, but as continuously interpreted, regenerated, and transformed through everyday life, becoming the cultural foundation of resilience.The latter part of the study focuses on how local actors demonstrate transformative capacity and internal reversal mechanisms when confronted with external institutional disruptions and governance interventions. Taking Ji’an as a case, it illustrates how local communities, under the pressures of state policies, economic globalization, climate change, and disaster risk, move through the adaptive cycle from the “release (Ω)” phase into the “reorganization (α)” phase, gradually initiating place-based revitalization and resource reconfiguration strategies. The iterative adjustments of Mugua River water governance and the emergence of a locally negotiated water rights regime become exemplary of governance innovation. Local residents engage in memory governance, knowledge regeneration, and cross-sector collaboration to break through institutional rigidity and resource dependency, rebuilding connections with land, culture, and institutions, and exhibiting a resilient reversal mechanism rooted in local agency. The study also highlights the key roles of “memory and innovation,” “post-disaster reconstruction and transformation,” and “local institutional mobilization” in shaping the trajectory of local transitions.In conclusion, this study presents three innovative contributions of adaptive cycle and panarchy theory in local application:(1) It addresses the original theories’ neglect of historical and cultural contexts, emphasizing the critical role of institutional memory and cultural practice in resilience rebuilding;(2) It proposes a dynamic perspective centered on “co-evolution,” enhancing the applicability of resilience theory to local development;(3) It underscores the interplay between multi-scalar governance and local innovation, demonstrating that institutional disturbances can become opportunities for local reconstruction.Finally, the chapter offers policy recommendations on local governance, agricultural policy, and post-disaster recovery, urging future approaches to prioritize local perspectives, community participation, and cultural knowledge transmission. It also calls for water governance to be integrated into the logic of cultural resilience, forming locally grounded strategies for sustainable development that incorporate institutional reflexivity and long-term resource stewardship.