Toward Integrated Water Resource Strategies in Taiwan: A Cross-Disciplinary Review of Hydrological Variability, Infrastructure Design, and Cultural-Ecological Integration

Taiwan faces significant water resource challenges driven by pronounced seasonal variability, regional hydrological contrasts, and growing anthropogenic pressures. To mitigate shortages and uneven distribution, this article emphasizes the urgent need for integrated water resource management that jointly considers surface water and groundwater. This research proposes an optimized Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) framework for regions with high seasonal variability. Key technical contributions include spatial sediment dynamics analysis for reservoir longevity and differentiated rainwater harvesting guidelines based on regional hydro-climatic profiles in Northern and Southern Taiwan. Building on principles of sustainability and resilience, we synthesize recent advances in hydrological modeling, sediment transport analysis, and infrastructure optimization—including reservoir desiltation, seawater desalination, rainwater harvesting, and assessments of land subsidence from groundwater extraction. Particular attention is given to spatial sediment dynamics across river reaches and their implications for enhancing storage capacity, a topic of direct relevance to limnology and aquatic ecosystem resilience. We further evaluate the feasibility of single-unit seawater desalination facilities in Taiwan’s coastal zones, analyzing energy demand and unit water costs under varying scenarios, while considering limnological impacts on coastal aquatic systems. Design guidelines for rainwater harvesting systems are proposed to reflect the distinct hydrological characteristics of northern and southern Taiwan, integrating ecological resilience and cultural narratives. The novelty of this research lies in its cross-disciplinary integration: linking sediment transport and reservoir sustainability to limnological processes, embedding cultural-ecological awareness into infrastructure design, and introducing artificial intelligence as a governance tool for water resource management. All of these efforts are aimed at aligning with global goals of energy conservation, carbon reduction, and mitigating global warming and to meet Taiwan’s commitment to carbon reduction targets of 40% by 2030 and 50% by 2050.