Chang Cheng-yang says, "Most of the people of Meinung are farmers. They are conservative people. Those fields are their world." He says that once the anti-reservoir movement got started, the local people's perspective on public affairs and their understanding of water resources underwent a sea change.
「美濃人多半是農民，性格保守，他們的天地就在那一方田地之間」，張正揚說，反水庫運動後，美濃人對公共事務的看法、水資源的瞭解，都已經有所不同了。