After Aborigines had fished and hunted around Tapo Lake, Chinese and Japanese came to the area. They began to clear the land, drain the water, and build embankments to create land suitable for farming and fishing.
繼原住民在大坡池漁獵，漢人、日本人陸續進來，開始以疏浚、排水、填土等，將濕地建構成可以利用的農漁業用地，與水爭地下，使得池畔濕地的壽命快速縮短。