This Act is enacted for the purposes of soil and water conservation treatment and maintenance, conserving soil and water resources, reducing the possibility of disasters, promoting the reasonable land use, and enhancing people’s welfare.
Soil and water conservation is governed by this Act. Issues not addressed by this Act will be governed by other acts.

For purposes of this Act, the term " competent authority" denotes the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan at the central level, special municipality at the municipal level, and county/city government at the county/city level.

For purposes of this Act, the following special terms or phrases are defined as below:
1.Soil and water conservation treatment and maintenance: the application of engineering, agronomic or vegetative measures to protect soil and water resources, maintain natural ecology and landscape, and prevent erosion, landslide, debris flow, and other disasters.
2.Soil and water conservation plan: a plan on soil and water conservation treatment and maintenance.
3.Slopeland: state-owned forestry area, forest land for experimentation, protection forest land and public and private land conforming to either of the following which the central the central level or municipality competent authority identifies in accordance with the natural terrain, requirements of the administrative regions, and requirement for conservation and utilization, and which are approved and publicly announced by the Executive Yuan upon application of the central or municipal competent authority:
(1)With an elevation of 100 meter or above; or
(2)With an elevation below 100 meter but average slope 5% or more.
4.Watershed: area above a given point of stream and river where the natural flow of water converges.
5.Designated soil and water conservation area: area designated by the central or municipality competent authority where soil and water conservation treatment and maintenance must be strengthened.
6.Reservoir watershed: area within the watershed of a reservoir or dam (including the outlet of an off-channel reservoir).
7.Protection belt: land not suitable for farming within a designated soil and water conservation area which shall be afforested with legally prescribed tree species or in which natural forest growth or vegetation cover shall be maintained.
8.Protection forest: as defined in the Forest Act.

Where soil and water conservation must be treated and maintained pursuant to this Act with respect to the operation or use of public or private land, the land operator, user or owner are the soil and water conservation obligors under this Act.

The central or municipality competent authority, where necessary, may designate the authority responsible for specific business, a public business institution, or public entity to supervise and manage soil and water conservation treatment and maintenance in connection with the construction of a reservoir, development of communities, or other major engineering projects.

Where the soil and water conservation treatment and maintenance is of a certain scale or above as designated by the central competent authority, the project shall be planned, designed and supervised by soil and water conservation technicians, civil engineering technicians, Hydraulic engineering technicians, land engineering technicians, and other relevant professional engineers legally registered and practicing, or by the relevant technical consulting institutions employing the above professional engineers. Where the project is to be implemented by the government authority at any level, a public business institution, or a public entity on its own, such planning, design and supervision may be undertaken by persons in the above authority, institution or entity who have obtained by act the technician's license in a comparable category.

If the project sum of any investigation, planning, design or supervision of soil and water conservation treatment and maintenance as undertaken by a soil and water conservation technician, civil engineering technician, water conservancy engineering technician, land engineering technician, or technical consulting institution employing any of the above professional engineers, which involves agricultural or vegetation methods or measures, accounts for 30% or more of the entire project, the competent authority shall request that the technician in charge be certified by a soil and water conservation technician possessing the particular expertise.

The central competent authority shall strengthen the promotion, education, counseling and experimental research of soil and water conservation, and devise plans in conjunction with the relevant authorities for implementation.