"When I was small, I'd have to take a winding path between the mountains and climb over huge boulders to come to play in the Chingshui," recalls fifty-something Lien Chen-te. In 1970 the river downstream had a depth of half a man's height, and from time to time you could catch eels weighing more than 13 pounds.
「小時候到溪底來玩，得走過彎彎曲曲的山路，爬過由大石頭堆疊的小丘」，五十多歲的玉里鎮民連震德回憶，民國五十九年時，清水溪下游溪水有半人高，溪中不時可以抓到十幾台斤的大鱸鰻。