Japanese Municipality Approves Ordinance for Protecting Groundwater as Public Property

Image by yukogets. Some Rights Reserved.

The Municipal Assembly of Saku, Nagano Prefecture, in central Japan passed a draft plan for preserving groundwater and spring water on June 29, 2012. The draft defined groundwater as a valuable common property of the local community indispensable to citizens' daily life, and set forth restrictions on groundwater pumping so that citizens can continue to benefit from plentiful, high-quality groundwater into the future.

Since the city of Saku is dependent on groundwater for most of its water resources, it regards groundwater as public property and thinks it necessary to raise people's awareness on groundwater and to make efforts to preserve it. For this purpose, the ordinance sets down standards for requiring permission for or reporting groundwater pumping, and also a set of rules for setting up wells. The city intends to cultivate groundwater, protect it from risks, and make sure it can be passed down to future generations.