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川の再生

The 10th International Workshop on Decentralized Domestic Wastewater Treatment in Asia
4th November, 2022
B - 1 E X A M P L E O F E F F E C T I V E U S E O F A G O O D W AT E R S I D E E N V I R O N M E N T

There is no sea, but there is the river!
River-Rich Prefecture of Saitama
From the restoration of river to“Next-river restoration” & “SAITAMA River Supporters Project “― C o n s ervati on & s ym b i o si s o f r i ve r s, a n d s u s tai n abl e u ti l i z a ti o n o f r i ve rs p a c es i n c o o p erati on w i th p r i va te s e c to rs ―川の国 埼玉

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川の再生

Background

Growing needs for river restoration
A river whose water quality is deteriorating
due to rapid urbanization

There are two rivers with water quality that ranks
among the top worst 5 in Japan.
Rank

2008

District / name of river(name of river system)

FY

1

Kanto / Ayase river (Tone river system)

2

Rivers where flood control is prioritized and thethrown away garbage are neglectedPrefecture

BOD (mg/L)

2007

Average

75 %value

Saitama, Tokyo

3.9

4.5

Kinki / Yamato river (Yamato river system)

Osaka, Nara

3.7

3.7

3

Kinki / Ina river (Yodo river system)

Osaka, Hyogo

3.6

4.6

4

Kanto / Naka river (Tone river system)

Saitama, Tokyo

3.6

4.3

5

Kanto / Tsurumi river (Tsurumi river system)

Kanagawa

3.2

3.9

1

Kinki / Yamato river (Yamato river system)

Osaka, Nara

4.7

5.5

2

Kanto / Ayase river (Tone river system)

Saitama, Tokyo

4.2

4.6

3

Kanto / Naka river (Tone river system)

Saitama, Tokyo

3.8

3.9

4

Kanto / Tsurumi river (Tsurumi river system)

Kanagawa

3.6

5.5

5

Kinki / Ina river (Yodo river system)

Osaka, Hyogo

3.3

3.9

Source： Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
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川の再生

Background

Actually, Saitama Prefecture has high potential of river

The Arakawa River is thewidest in JapanThe widest
in JapanThe ratio of the riverarea to the prefecturalland is 3.9%

2nd placenationwide

River width (Distance between dikes) ofArakawa river is 2,537 m. *in normal times
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Former history of “River restoration”

川の再生

Jump

Step

Starting in 2008, "River Restoration"
was launched as a Saitama
government-wide project.

From FY 2021
From FY 2012

Development of 17 rivers fromupstream to downstream“Whole River Restoration Project”

Hop① create a mood for
public opinion③further development② expansion anddissemination

From FY 2008

Certainly improved
100 waterfront had been improvedin 4 years“Riverside Revitalization 100 Plan”
Became a movement involving
the citizen.
Support for the“River Country Cheering Team”
Issuance of“Kawa no Kuni love Prefectural Bonds”

Development of 28 bases incooperation with tourism“River-Rich Prefecture of Saitama LivelyProject”
The number of riversite used forcommercial purposes is thelargest in Japan.
Open river space: 16 places“Waterside Space Thorough Utilization
Project”（continue）

Promotion of Saitama
version SDGs
Selected as an SDGs Future City(May 2021)

Next-river restoration“Business venture
challenge at the waterside “

SAITAMA River
Supporters Project“River Supporters”（～ FY 2015）
川の国 埼玉4

New initiative

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川の再生

“Next-river restoration” & “River Supporters”

Revitalization of activities of companies,individuals and organizations

Custom-made waterfront design
floating lounge

camp square

Administration

Corporate
supporter

Individual
supporter

Cooperation

CouncilPrivatecompanies

Residents/
Organizations

Next-river restoration・Business venture
challenge at the waterside

Creation of an attractive
waterside space

Toward sustainable
efforts in three aspects:
environment, society,and economy

Synergy

SAITAMA RIVER
SUPPORTERS

SAITAMA River Supporters Project
Raise awareness to love,
protect and nurture rivers

A virtuous circle where people love the river, raise awarenessof protecting and nurturing it, and people gather in attractive
waterfront spaces.
川の国 埼玉5Feature and Benefit ofNext

川の再生“Next-river restoration” & “River Supporters”
Responding to social changes~COVID-19 pandemic/DX~

Participation of Diverse Entities~Companies/Organizations/Citizens～
Public-private partnership/
Business-to-business exchange

Collaborative Activities ofDiverse Entities

Growing interest in outdoor work
Kawa-cation （ river and sauna ）参加企業交流会｜R4.5

Use of SNS for information
dissemination

Portal site / LINE

Creation of regional development
and prosperity

Sustainability Guarantee/Management Perspective

Fostering environmental awareness

Cooperation with private business
operators from the planning stage

Valuable open space / familiar
nature in urban areas

Place for environmental learning

The first Starbucks on the riverbed

Hannogawara social experiment

川の国 埼玉6NextAchievements

川の再生

Results of water quality improvement and local activities through “river restoration”

20

2.8

2.3 2.44

2.3 2.4 2.2

3662

1.7 1.822

1.7 1.7 1.8

Ratio of rivers with water quality
where sweetfish can live: 50% → 90%

2003

2005

2007

2009

89 57263
2.182902011

2013

2015

212017

2019

2021

FY

Number of supporter （As of August, 2022）
Individual supporter

5,770 persons

Cooperate supporter

277 companies

Group supporter（SAITAMA RIVER
SUPPORTERS ）753 groups

Number of matching achievements between
companies （FY 2021）: 51

454
400

200

478

522

559

274

2008

322

371 399

636

707

737

800

430

462

502

541 563571 574 578 582 586

Number of "Cheering Party of the Country of the River"
Total distance of activities
2010

1000

600

338
250

0

Improvement status of river water quality

Achievement of “River Supporters”

600

591 603 609665 682

20122014

2016

2018

2020

400
200

Total distance（km）

2.8

52 2.6597768829388

Number of cheering party

3.2 62 3.1 66

60 5240728489

all monitoring points（mg/Ｌ）

80（％）

quality suitable for sweet fish

Ratio of rivers with water

100

Average water quality (BOD) at

800

Percentage of rivers with water quality suitable for sweetfish (BOD 3 mg/L or less)
Average water quality (BOD) at all monitoring points

0FY

Number of “SAITAMA RIVER SUPPORTERS” and Total
distance of activities

Good practice of “River Supporters” matching

Donating Yacht Boarding
Lifts to Organizations

川の国 埼玉“Workation” event at theriverside

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Achievements

川の再生

Water quality improvement by “River restoration”
Designation status of river water quality types in Saitama Prefecture• West part of Saitama Prefecture (Chichibu area) isrelatively has good water quality (less than 2 mg-BOD/L).
• Southeast part of Saitama Prefecture (downstream ofriver) is very polluted (more than 10 mg-BOD/L ).

color rate of status annual Ave. of BOD
Very goodgoodmoderate
little polluted
polluted
very polluted

1.0 mg/L or less
2.0 mg/L or less
3.0 mg/L or less
5.0 mg/L or less
10 mg/L or less
10 mg/L or more

FY 2021FY 1990

Environmental standard achievement ratio (BOD based)• Average of Japan : 94 % (FY 2021)• Saitama Prefecture: 95 % (FY 2021)(FYI, 100 % at FY 2016)

川の国 埼玉A long-term improvement trend
can be observed, however
continuous efforts are important.

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Achievements

川の再生

Achievement of Open river space (Waterside Space Thorough Utilization Project)
Annual sales: 90 million yen

Tourist arrivals increased by 340,000“Waterside Space Thorough Utilization Project”
Number of facilities and number of tourist arrivals(April to March of FY)“Waterside Space Thorough Utilization Project”
Annual facility sales (April to March of FY)* Total sales of 11 facilities excluding 3 facilities whose operating sales are
not disclosed

26.2 x
growth

16.7 x
growthUnit: 1,000 JPY

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Number of facilities opened
Number of tourist arrivals

川の国 埼玉

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

9

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川の再生

Achievements

New employment and increasing the profit
Iruma River (Sayama City)
Japan's first Starbucks coffee shop on theriverbed has opened.
Number of visitors: 240,000 people / year
5th sales in Kanto area of Japan （As of May 2021）

Toki River (Tokigawa town)
A special space like a private riverbed
Popular glamping sites
Saturdays and Sundays are fully booked,
Celebrities also visit incognito.

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川の再生

Further development:

Disseminating the charm of theriver to the whole country
Create custom-made attractive waterfronts
in various parts of the prefecture anddisseminate information about “River-Rich
Prefecture of Saitama”, to the whole country
Image of utilization of Koshigaya
Lake Town

Increase the river lovers

Raising interest in rivers
through various opportunitiesEfforts such as “River-cycle” or “River Pup”
etc., to get citizens to love the river more.

cleaning/beautification activities in
conjunction with riverside activities“River-cycle”

Utilization of DX
Create a riverside in virtual
space, and hold a live performed
by a tourism ambassador. 700
people attended. (Developmentof new supporters)

Koshigaya Lake Town in
virtual space

The city and theprivate sector
conclude anagreement“River Pup”

川の国 埼玉

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川の再生

Further development: Fostering environmental awarenessMarine pollution countermeasures
Preventing marine plastic pollution by picking upgarbage from rivers (supporting activity groups)

Contribution to carbon neutrality
Introduction of small scale hydroelectric power
generation utilizing rivers

Partially intakeof water fromrivers

Powergeneration

Small scale hydroelectric power
generation with the power ofelevation difference

Water storage tank

川の国 埼玉Income fromelectricity sales

Tourism promotion& Environmental
protection

Generator

Power station
exterior

Generator

12

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川の再生

Realization of a platinum society throughsymbiosis with rivers
There is no sea, but there are the best rivers!

Realizing “River-Rich Prefecture of Saitama” both in name and reality,and passing it on to the next generation“Next-riverrestoration”

SAITAMA River
Supporters Project

Business venture challenge
at the waterside
Creation of attractive
waterside
Corporate business expansion andsustainability
Local employment promotion
Creation of local energy

Citizens deepen theirlove for the riverRX

Increase in river
supporters

River-Transformation
Regional development andimprovement of regional value

Participation of Diverse
Entities

Promoting exchanges
between each entity
Environmental
improvement of rivers

Realization Cycle of “River-Rich Prefecture of Saitama”
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川の再生

Thank you for listening!

Saitama Prefecture Mascots "Kobaton" and "Saitamattchi"
川の国 埼玉