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Assessment on Water Resource Management: Case Study; Taungthaman Lake, Armarapura Township, Mandalay Region, Myanmar

Content

The “Taungthaman” lake has been described by a Burmese poet in 1872 during Burmese King Bodaw Paya’s reign. It is famous for “U Pain Bridge” and also an important tourist attraction for domestic and international tourists. It is a natural flood plain area and it is flooded by the inflow of Ayeyarwady River in the rainy season. Few sources of water flows is via “Ye Kyi Bauk” stream and also from “Myit Nge” river through the “Let Koke Pin” stream. In addition, minor flood-plain channels exist along the banks of the “Ayeyarwady” river and the “Myit Nge” river respectively. Its depth is 8-15 feet (2.4-4.57 meters) with area of about 1000 acres (404.7 hectares) at the peak of the rainy season (June and July). During the rest of the year, its width is about 800 acres (323.8 hectares) with the depth of 3-6 feet (0.9-1.82 meters). It is a natural flood plain with the main inflow of water from the Ayeyarwady River and it is bringing river fishes for spawning in the lake. It also serves as a large nursery for river fish which migrate back to the river at the end of the season. A local fishery industry also utilizes for breeding fishes including a variety of carps and African fresh water cichlid fish known as “Tilapia”. The latter gains much popularity as its productivity is highly prolific. The socio-economic status of the lake is regarded quite high because of

• • its scenic beauty with splendid sunset,

• • a historic wooden bridge known as “U Pain Bridge” built in 1849, is spanning across the lake.

• • a good yield of fresh water fish both natural and from the local fish nursery.

• • of fertile land for crops around its periphery and

• • seasonal visit by aquatic-birds