Historical Water Management Strategies—Case Study of Traditional Villages in Southern China, Hunan Province

Abstract

Based on the landscape architecture of traditional settlements in southern China, this study takes water as a vital element through field investigation and model analysis to explore the water management strategies of two traditional villages in Xiangjiang River Basin, Hunan Province. We have found that traditional settlements are located between rivers and mountains. The community of the settlement has a strong interaction with the water environment. The water management system consists of two parts: the rainwater collection and storage system of a single building and the settlement’ s water collection and drainage system. Through calculation, we found that the amounts of water collected (per year) between the two villages are different: ZhangGuYing (Z village) = 5.73 million L, ShangGanTang (S village) = 1.784 million L, in spite of the fact that water management strategies of the two settlements are similar. Further analysis shows that the difference is related to the adaption of the precipitation and topography of the surrounding areas. The above-mentioned systematic management strategy of water resources has been used until currently, with adaptability, low cost, and sustainability. It has outstanding significance for the current demand for sustainable development from both resource management and cultural aspects.