[TENTATIVE TRANSLATION]
As of March, 2023

Basic Plan on Water Cycle

June 2022、

Table of Contents

Introduction ······································································1
1. Our relationship to the water cycle ················································ 1
2. Positioning of this Plan and its subject period ·································· 3
3. Ideal vision of the water cycle ······················································· 4
4. Current conditions of the water cycle and related topics ···················· 5
5. Main details of priority initiatives under this Plan ···························· 11(1) Water-cycle innovation through river basin management ···············11－ Further deployment of river basin management andimprovements in its quality ―(2) Realization of a safe and sound society through sound water cycle
initiatives－ Responding to risks of climate change, large-scale natural
disasters, etc.－(3) Passing on an abundant society to future generations through a soundwater cycle－ Awareness raising, publicity, education, and international
contributions regarding a sound water cycle －6. Structure of this Plan ································································ 14Part 1 Basic policies on measures related to the water cycle ·· 16
1. Comprehensive and integrated river basin management ················· 16(Promoting cooperation in river basins etc.)(Proper groundwater preservation and use)
2. Proactively promoting initiatives to maintain or recover a sound water
cycle ····················································································· 19(Maintenance and improvement of storage and recharge functions)(Promoting education concerning a sound water cycle etc.)(Carrying out research as necessary to formulate and implement water
cycle measures and promotion of science and technology)(Water-cycle-related human-resources development)(Measures to promote autonomous activities by private organizations andothers)3. Ensuring proper use of water and enjoyment of its benefits ·············· 23(Securing safe, high-quality water)(Strategic maintenance, management, and updating of water infrastructureetc.)(Efficient and effective use of water)(Responding to global warming)(Responding to critical droughts)(Responding to disasters)
4. Maintaining a sound water cycle in use of water····························· 29(Water environment)(Water cycle and ecosystems)(Waterside spaces preservation, rehabilitation, and creation)(Passing along, rehabilitation, and creation of water culture)
5. Promoting water-cycle-related initiatives through international
cooperation ············································································ 31(Securinginternational

collaboration

andpromotinginternational

cooperation)

Part 2 Water-cycle-related measures to be taken
comprehensively and systematically by the Japanese
government ························································ 33
1. Promoting cooperation in river basins etc. - Framework ofcomprehensive and integrated river basin management - ················ 33(1)

Scope of river basin(2)

Thinking on comprehensive and integrated river basin management(3)

Establishment of a river basin water cycle council and formulation ofa river basin water cycle plan(4)

Content of the river basin water cycle plan

(5)River basin water cycle planning process and evaluation(6)

River basin water cycle planning/promotion measures

2. Proper groundwater preservation and use ···································· 37

(1)Collection, organization, analysis, announcement, and preservationof information concerning groundwater(2)

Utilization of councils, etc., concerning proper groundwater

preservation and use(3)

Restrictions on extraction of groundwater and other necessary

measures3. Maintenance and improvement of storage and recharge functions····· 42(1)Forests and woods(2)

Rivers etc.

(3)

Farmland(4)

Urban areas

4. Promoting appropriate and effective water use etc.························· 45(1)Securing stable water supplies and drainage etc.
a. Securing safe, high-quality water
b. Responding to critical droughts(2)

Responding to disasters
a. Efforts to protect people's lives and property from disasters
b. Securing the functions of water supply and drainage systems etc.
during largescale disasters and power failures(3)

Strategic maintenance, management, and updating of water

infrastructure(4)

Efficient and effective use of watera. Rationalization of water use
b. Promoting use of rainwater and reclaimed waterc. Water conservation(5)

Water environment(6)

Water cycle and ecosystems(7)

Water environment preservation, rehabilitation, and creation(8)

Passing along, rehabilitation, and creation of water culture(9)

Responding to global warminga. Adaptation measuresb. Mitigation measures5. Promoting education concerning a sound water cycle etc. ··············· 61(1)

Promoting education on the water cycle(2)

Promoting awareness raising activities related to water cycle

6. Measures to promote autonomous activities by private organizations
and others ·············································································· 64
7. Conducting research necessary to formulate and implement water cycle
policies ·················································································· 66(1)Survey of current conditions of river basin water cycle(2)

Survey of the impacts of climate change on the water cycle andadaptation thereto
8. Promotion of science and technology··········································· 68
9. Securing international collaboration and promoting international
cooperation ············································································ 71(1)International collaboration(2)

International cooperation(3)

Overseas expansion of water businesses

10. Water-cycle-related human-resources development ······················ 76(1)

Human-resource development and international interpersonal

exchange through industry-academy-government-resident collaboration

Part 3 What is needed to promote water-cycle-related measurescomprehensively and systematically ························ 77
1. Effective implementation of water-cycle-related measures ··············· 77
2. Duties of related parties and mutual collaboration and cooperation ···· 77
3. Publication of measures implemented by the national government inconnection with the water cycle ·················································· 78

Introduction
1. Our relationship to the water cycle(The water cycle)

Water is the source of life, and its endless cycle on the earth interacts with otherelements of the natural environment, such as the atmosphere and the soil, tocontinually provide numerous blessings to diverse ecosystems, including humanity. In
addition, the process of the water cycle has enriched people's lives and played
important roles in industrial and cultural development.
(Water and Japan's geological and climatological features)

Located at the eastern tip of Monsoon Asia, one of the world's limited number ofheavy-rainfall zones, Japan enjoys annual average precipitation of approximately
1,700 mm, or 1.4 times the global average. However, due to factors such as the factthat its land mass stretches approximately 3,000 km in both east-west and north-south
directions and has a mountain ridge running down its center, Japan's precipitation isgeographically and seasonally imbalanced, resulting in conditions under which it is
not easy to use water resources in a stable manner. In addition, since Japan's terrain is
steeply sloped, rainfall quickly flows into rivers. This results in frequent floods. Since
most of Japan's urban areas and farmland are located in alluvial plains formed by theactions of rivers, they are at risk of flooding. Under such conditions, people havestrived to use water while mitigating damage through various measures suited toregional characteristics. Rainfall flows and moves downstream in the form of surface
water or groundwater, and then it is used as consumer water, industrial water,
agricultural water, water used in power generation, and for other purposes, while also
being returned to the rivers or groundwater. In these ways, the land on which we live
has been formed through a very close relationship with the water cycle.
(Water's benefits)

Water is essential to all life on earth, particularly to the social activities of humanity.
Since ancient times, it has served as a fountain of people's livelihoods and supported
social and cultural prosperity, providing substantial benefits to the public.
A look at the relationship between people and water in Japan shows that rice farming
was introduced during the latter part of the Jomon Period (through the 10th centuryBC) and wet rice paddies built using irrigation canals first appeared during the Yayoi
Period (third century BC - third century AD), marking the start of full-fledged wetfield farming in Japan. Until the middle ages, wet-field farming took place in areas
where water could be used without large-scale civil-engineering works. Later, river
improvement and irrigation technologies developed, and starting in the Edo Period(1603-1868), development of new rice fields was conducted proactive in areas that1

could not be developed before, such as the flood plains of major rivers, leading to thedevelopment of land infrastructure in which people's livelihoods were joined with theuse of water.
Today, water's benefits serve as the foundations of our abundant lifestyles,
supporting diverse local social and cultural activities in regions from the sources ofrivers through their mouths to the sea.
(Water and the development of society)

Since ancient times, Japan has experienced efforts to build consensus on use ofwater through numerous conflicts and reconciliations related to use of agricultural
water in river basins between upstream and downstream zones. Through the formationof this water-use order, a water cycle formed in which agricultural water, the leading
portion of water use, could be used repeatedly within a river basin. In addition, actions
were taken in rivers and river basins to mitigate the damage from repeated floods anddroughts, in accordance with the economic and technological conditions of the time.
The reflooding of the Tone River, which formed the basis for Tokyo's present
prosperity, converted harms to benefits by protecting Edo from the river's flooding,developing new rice fields, and developing a transportation and shipping network,
enabling urban land use.
Since the Meiji Period (1868-1912), river improvements have advanced together
with Japan's modernization, and damage from flooding and mudslides has been
reduced by a considerable degree. In addition, water-resource development to satisfy
new demand for water as Japan's population increased quickly and concentrated inurban areas resulted in a state in which nearly all members of the public are suppliedwith waterworks. Furthermore, development of infrastructure such as waterworks andsewer systems has reduced cases of water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
During Japan's period of rapid social and economic growth in the postwar years,
problems such as wide-ranging ground subsidence due to over pumping ofgroundwater in industrial zones and elsewhere and water pollution from industrial
wastewater and other sources became severe. As a result of measures to protect
groundwater such as laws and ordinances restricting pumping and conversion to use
of river water led to a state in which wide-ranging and severe ground subsidence israre. In addition, the spread of use of sewage treatment facilities such as those of sewer
systems, agricultural community sewage treatment facilities, and Johkasou; thestrengthening of regulations on business wastewater; and adoption of regulations onunderground penetration improved water quality overall in rivers, lakes and marshes,
groundwater, and other sources have brought overall improvements. Furthermore,hydroelectric power helped meet energy demand in the postwar recovery period andis considered an important source of green energy today, since it does not emit carbon
dioxide in the generation process.

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(The necessity of a sound water cycle)

Use of water in people's livelihoods until now has played a major role in thedevelopment of today's abundant society and culture. However, various factors suchas concentration of population in urban areas, changes to industrial structures, andglobal warming and other forms of climate change have led to changes in the water
cycle, resulting in various issues such as floods, droughts, and impacts on ecosystems.
In Japan, in order to protect the lives and property of members of the public fromfuture water-related disasters (hereinafter, this refers to flooding, soil disasters, anddrought), to pass along an abundant society to the future, and to realize further progressand development, it is vital to reaffirm the fact that water is an important shared assetof humanity, to enable sound cycling of water, and to enable the blessings thereof to
be enjoyed in the future, through comprehensively promoting measures to maintain or
recover a sound water cycle.

2. Positioning of this Plan and its subject period(Positioning of this Plan)

It is important that water-cycle-related measures (including measures for proper
groundwater preservation and use; hereinafter the same shall apply) share the goal of
maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle and be advanced through mutual
coordination and adjustment among individual measures. In addition, many suchmeasures need to be advanced through comprehensive government-wide coordination.
In light of these needs, in July 2014, the Basic Act on Water Cycle (Act No. 16 of
2014; "the Act" hereinafter) was enacted and the Headquarters for Water-Cycle Policy,
chaired by the Prime Minister, was established. Also, in that same month, the firstmeeting of the Headquarters for Water-Cycle Policy was held, in which the decision
was made to establish the Coordinating Committee.
To achieve the goals stipulated in Article 1 of the Act, this Plan serves as Japan's
basic plan on water-cycle-related measures, established to comprehensively andsystematically promote Japan's water-cycle-related measures pursuant to theprovisions of Article 13 of the Act.
In addition, government-wide efforts are underway toward the maintenance orrecovery of a sound water cycle through planning and coordination concerning thewater cycle aside from this Plan as well.

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(Period covered by this Plan)

The Basic Plan on Water Cycle was approved by the Cabinet in July 2015 andunderwent necessary changes in June 2020, approximately five years later. In June
2021, the Act for Partial Amendment of the Basic Act on the Water Cycle (Act No. 73
of 2021) came into effect, and it was decided to partially revise the plan in line with
amended law’s intent.
This Plan has been formulated to cover the five-year period beginning in FY 2020,
while keeping in mind prospects for roughly 10 years in the future and looking evenfurther ahead.
This Plan will be reviewed roughly every five years and revised as necessary.

3. Ideal vision of the water cycle(Maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle)

The Act defines the "water cycle" as "the cycle of water through the process ofevaporation, precipitation, flowing, or filtration until reaching the sea or elsewhere,
centered on water in river basins in the forms of surface water or groundwater." Itdefines a "sound water cycle" as "a water cycle in which the functions of water, inhuman activities and environmental preservation, are maintained appropriately." Thismeans that in the maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle, it is essential tomaintain an appropriate balance between water's functions in human, industrial, andother activities and its functions in the natural environment.
In addition, to maintain or recover a sound water cycle into the future, it will beessential to respond in ways that take into consideration factors such as global warming
and other forms of climate change, as well as factors such as low birth rates and theaging of the population, population decreases, depopulation, and future long-termchanges in the industrial structure.
(Ideal goal)

Located in one of the world's leading heavy-rainfall zones, Japan uses water in forms
such as consumer water, industrial water, and agricultural water, from various sources
including surface water, such as rivers, lakes, and marshes, and groundwater. It is vitalthat the nation be able to enjoy water's abundant benefits with high quality and stability.
It is necessary to maintain and demonstrate sustainably the water-source recharge
functions of the forests and farmland that cover the bulk of Japan's land mass, which
temporarily store rainwater and purify it, in addition to other multifaceted functions
such as erosion prevention, ecosystem preservation, and provision of venues foreducation and experiencing nature.
It is important that each region in a river basin preserve both of its water
environment and ecosystems and be able to respond to critical droughts, through4

securing appropriate water volumes and quality in accordance with its terrain, geology,
and other distinctive properties and the actual conditions of its water use.
In addition, extreme phenomena attributable to climate change and other factor
recent years have been becoming increasingly frequent and intense in recent years.
Consequently, there is a need to minimize damage to the property of members of the
public and to public facilities, while giving top priority to protecting people's lives, inthe event of any type of water-related disaster.
Under such conditions, it is vital both that each and every member of the public
understand water's importance and that related parties in all regions, from river sources
through their mouths to the sea, cooperate proactively in efforts to maintain or recoversound water cycles.
In order to pass along sound water cycles to future generations, it is important thatmembers of the public, of all ages, have contact with familiar waterside spaces andwater culture, understand how water benefits people's lives, and cooperate with diverse
related parties in the river basin toward maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle.
It is essential that water infrastructure (hereinafter, this refers in general to thefacilities that enable use of water from storage through water use and drainage,
including river management facilities, hydroelectric power facilities, agricultural
water use facilities, industrial waterworks facilities, waterworks facilities, and sewer
system facilities), which serves as the foundation to support people's lifestyles andindustrial activities, be maintained, managed, and updated appropriately, while also
having appropriate seismic performance and other features.
Japan has technologies and experience from its track record of overcoming
significant water pollution and wide-ranging, severe ground subsidence in the past, as
well as outstanding water-related systems, and these can be expected to contribute tosolutions to the water issues faced by developing countries in Asia-Pacific region andaround the world.
At the same time, it also is important to carry out research and technologicaldevelopment through industry-academy-government cooperation on science andtechnology related to the water cycle, such as behavioral analysis and elucidation of
the facts concerning the water cycle, including groundwater, and predicting the impactof the risk of water-related disasters, and to put the results of such efforts to use inmaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle.

4. Current conditions of the water cycle and related topics
a. Main measures implemented until now
Until now, related government agencies have cooperated to steadily implement
water-cycle-related measures based on the Basic Plan on Water Cycle. Some main
measures are shown below.
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(Promoting cooperation in river basins etc.)○ To carry out comprehensive and integrated river basin management, 61 river basinwater cycle plans have been formulated by local public agencies and others throughthe end of December 2021.
○ To support the initiatives of local public groups and others in connection withcomprehensive and integrated river basin management, in July 2018, the River
Basin Management Guide was assembled, and in July 2018, October 2019,
November 2020, and March 2022 outstanding case studies of river basin
management were collected in the River Basin Management Case Studies.
(Proper groundwater preservation and use)

○ To support the efforts of local public agencies and others regarding sustainablegroundwater preservation and use, in August 2019, the Groundwater Management
Guide was prepared, covering related expertise and notes.
○ Local governments’ enactment of ordinances on groundwater preservation and use
was surveyed, categorized, and organized and the results were published in February
2021.
○ The Guidelines for Groundwater Preservation were reviewed and eventually revisedin March 2021 to provide measures and information useful to local governments
and other bodies that are considering measures to preserve groundwater
environments suited to their regions.
○ Following the enforcement of the Act for Partial Amendment of the Basic Act on
the Water Cycle in June 2021, local governments were informed that they may
impose restrictions on groundwater as well as other necessary restrictions as
specified in their ordinances.
(Maintenance and improvement of storage and recharge functions)○ To demonstrate in a comprehensive and advanced manner the multifaceted functionsof forests, forestry improvement and preservation measures have been promoted.
○ To ensure safe flows of floodwater and rainwater in rivers and sewer systems, efforts
were advanced to improve storage pipes used to store rainwater or filter it
underground as well as rainwater storage and infiltration facilities.
(Promoting appropriate and effective water use etc.)○ The Act on Partial Amendment of the Water Supply Act (Act No. 92 of 2018) was
enacted in October 2019, resulting in enhancement of measures to strengthen thewaterworks infrastructure, including wide-area coordination of waterworks, diverse
public-private partnerships, and appropriate asset management by waterworks
businesses and others.
○ To reconstruct a society with an awareness of water-disaster prevention, in which
all of society is prepared for river flooding, progress has been made on disaster6

prevention and mitigation measures that combine intangibles, such as the January
2019 revisions to the Emergency Action Plan for Reconstruction of a Society with
an Awareness of Water-disaster Prevention, with tangible measures, such as levee
improvements and dredging of waterways.
○ In conjunction with the enforcement of the Act for Partial Amendment of the Act on
Countermeasures against Flood Damage of Specified Rivers Running Across Citiesof 2021, etc. (Act No. 31 of 2021, hereinafter referred to as the "Specific Municipal
River Flood Damage Control Act"), local governments were informed of the
purpose of the amendment and points requiring attention.
○ To develop sustainable sewage treatment systems, systematic and efficient consumer
wastewater measures have been implemented through appropriate division of
responsibilities, with comprehensive consideration for the distinctive properties,
economic potential, etc. of sewer systems, agricultural community sewage treatment
facilities, and Johkasou.
○ Efforts have been advanced in areas such as preservation and rehabilitation ofwaterside spaces, through means including preservation and recovery of ecosystem
networks in rural areas and preservation and rehabilitation of forests, rural areas,
rivers, and seas. In addition, efforts also have been made to pass along andrehabilitate the diverse local communities and regional cultures in river basins.
(Promoting education concerning a sound water cycle etc.)○ Education has been conducted on water cycles in forests, rivers, and otherenvironments through means including school education, tours, and hands-on
experiences on site.
○ To promote and raise awareness of the water cycle and publicize related information,
events have been held in conjunction with Water Day (August 1) and Water Week
(August 1-7), together with other measures including awards and communication of
information related to the water cycle.
(Measures to promote autonomous activities by private organizations and others)○ Community activities to manage preservation of forests, farmland, canals, etc. havebeen supported.
○ To promote water-cycle-related activities by the private sector and others,
opportunities have been provided for water-related public-private partnerships.
(Conducting research necessary to formulate and implement water cycle policies)○ To ascertain current conditions and facts regarding the water cycle in river basins,
surveys have been conducted concerning water volumes, water quality, water usage,
groundwater levels, and other matters in public waters.
○ To consider responses to climate change, research has been conducted to improve
the precision of meteorological data and predict global warming and its impacts.
7

(Promotion of science and technology)○ Research and development and other activities have been conducted in areas such astechnologies for analysis of water quality, groundwater, ground subsidence, etc.;
impact assessment; methods of analyzing water environmental risks; and satellites
to observe climate change.
(Securing international collaboration and promoting international cooperation)○ Together with communication of Japan's water-cycle-related experience andknowledge intentionally through international conferences and other venues, theimportance of public investment in water and disaster prevention has been stressed.
○ The Act on Promotion of Participation by Japanese Businesses in Social Capital
Projects Overseas (Act No. 40 of 2018) was enacted in August 2018, encouraging
public-private partnerships to promote overseas expansion of infrastructure systems
utilizing Japan's experiences, knowledge, and technologies.
(Water-cycle-related human-resources development)○ Training was provided for staff of local public agencies and others to develop humanresources related to the water cycle.
○ To contribute to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, measures have been
implemented to train human resources involved in water resources in developing
countries, through means such as dispatch of experts and acceptance of trainees.
b. Main issues for the future
While water-cycle-related measures have been implemented steadily until now
based on the Basic Plan on Water Cycle, numerous issues remain in connection withthe maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle. These include the issues listed
below.
For this reason, it is essential that efforts to maintain or recover a sound water cycle
be promoted across multiple government agencies, in cooperation with local publicagencies and the private sector, and in a comprehensive and integrated manner.
(River basin coordination)

While efforts to achieve comprehensive and integrated management of river basinsare being implemented fully in some regions where there is a high level of interest in
the water cycle, regional imbalances are apparent from a nationwide perspective. Other
issues include the difficulty of understanding the current state of the water cycle andthe effects of initiatives and the fact that local public agencies and others do notnecessarily have adequate knowledge of the water cycle.

8

(Proper groundwater preservation and use)

In addition to its diverse uses such as drinking water, groundwater also serves roles
in preservation of biodiversity and as a tourism resource. At the same time, someregions are experiencing ground subsidence, salination, groundwater pollution, andother harm. In the meantime, in general, groundwater has a highly regional nature, andin many regions, the actual state of its behavior is unclear. In addition, consensusbuilding has not progressed in communities due to insufficient information and knowhow for promoting the establishment of councils, the enactment or revision ofordinances, and the execution of other initiatives.
(Maintenance and improvement of storage and recharge functions)

A shortage of labor in forests, farmlands, and other areas that contribute to themaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle, centered on regions affected bydepopulation, low birth rates, and the aging of the population, could make it difficult
to maintain and demonstrate their multifaceted functions in areas such as water source
recharge. In addition, decreased underground filtration of rainwater due tourbanization and other factors could lead to depletion of spring water and decreases inrivers' normal water flows, resulting in problems such as water quality degradation,and increased flows during flooding.
(Aging of water infrastructure)

Japan's water infrastructure was developed rapidly beginning in the decade afterWorld War II, and particularly in the subsequent period of rapid economic growth andlater. It played an important role in the nation's postwar recovery and development.
However, many facilities have aged, leading to increasing risk of long-term cessationof their functioning in the event of a large-scale disaster such as an earthquake.
(Climate change and water-related disasters)

Climate change is recognized as a challenge confronting all of humankind. Japan
has experienced a succession of severe water and soil disasters in recent years. They
include the September 2015 torrential downpours in the Kanto and Tohoku regions,
the July 2017 torrential downpours in northern Kyushu, the July 2018 torrential
downpours, the 2019 east Japan typhoon (Typhoon Hagibis), the July 2020 torrential
downpours, and heavy rains that began on July 1, 2021. These disasters resulted insevere damage that included considerable loss of life and property. In addition, it isbelieved that the frequency of short-duration torrential rainfall and heavy rains will
increase due to global warming and other forms of climate change, and that flood andlandslide disasters will become more frequent and severe as a result. Droughts too
continue to lead to measures such as restrictions on water pumping, on an almost yearlybasis, and in the future, climate change is expected to lead to increased damage fromdroughts due to increased numbers of days with no precipitation and decreased snow
9

accumulation. As a result, there are concerns about increasingly frequent, long-term,and severe damage due to droughts.
In October 2020, Japan declared that it would aim to become "net-zero by 2050" toreduce its greenhouse gas emissions and thereby mitigate the effects of climate change.
In response to this declaration, net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 was
established as a basic principle under the Act for Partial Amendment of the Act on
Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures (Act No. 54 of 2021). And on
October 22, 2021, the Cabinet approved Japan's Long-term Strategy under the Paris
Agreement. There are growing expectations for renewable energies related to the water
cycle, such as hydroelectric power generation and water-based solar power generation,
as means to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
(Water environment)

With regard to water quality, many lakes and marshes or closed coastal seas
continue to fail to meet environmental quality standards, and issues such as
groundwater pollution from business sites and surface sources, and those related toecosystem preservation remain.
(Promotion of science and technology)

To ascertain the actual facts of various issues related to the water cycle--such as theaging of water infrastructure, increasing risks of water-related disasters due to global
warming and other forms of climate change, changes in physical cycles related to thewater cycle, and groundwater conditions--there is a need for analysis, elucidation, andtechnological development while utilizing monitoring and observation data fromsatellites and other sources.
(Ecosystems, waterside spaces, and water culture)

In addition to the shrinking of local communities due to factors such as population
decreases and regional economic contraction in river basins, dramatic changes innatural and social conditions, and their impacts, are making it difficult to preserve andrehabilitate the waterside spaces where creatures live, grow, and multiply, to maintainsound water sources, and to pass along diverse water culture.
(Awareness raising, publicity, education)

Opportunities to come into contact with water in everyday living have decreased,
and particularly among the younger generation, knowledge of the water cycle andunderstanding and awareness of water are in a decreasing trend. For this reason, there
is a need to deepen understanding of the water cycle among region residents, theprivate sector, and others, and to make autonomous efforts toward maintenance orrecovery of a sound water cycle.

10

(Securing international collaboration and promoting international cooperation)

For many people around the world, continual use of safe drinking water and sanitaryfacilities such as toilets remains difficult. One target of SDGs Goal 6 (Water andSanitation) is to "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water andsanitation for all" by 2030. In addition, issues such as food shortages and rural
poverty are related to inadequate water-management organizations and technologies
in rural communities. Furthermore, it is expected that demand for water infrastructuredevelopment will swell in the future, centered on emerging countries in Asia. Under
such conditions, the water issues faced by the world are growing and changing, andthey could affect the entire world, including Japan.
(Human-resources development)

There is a concern that as Japan undergoes changes in its population and otheraspects of its social structure in the future, it will be difficult to secure appropriate
management levels due to a shortage of human resources in areas such as water
infrastructure operation, maintenance, upgrading, research, and technologicaldevelopment.

5. Main details of priority initiatives under this Plan
In light of factors such as the state of implementation of water-cycle-related
measures until now, remaining issues, and changes in social and other conditions,
efforts in the following areas will be priorities over the coming five years or so.

(1) Water-cycle innovation through river basin management－

Further deployment of river basin management andimprovements in its quality ―Comprehensive and integrated management of a river basin is considered to refer
not to the management of the entire river basin by a single party but to coordinatedactivities by various actors, including administrators and other public agencies, experts,
businesses, groups, and residents related to the river basin, to maintain or improve
people's livelihoods and water volumes, water quality, and natural environment
engaged with water in sound and good conditions, in forests, rivers, farmland, urban
areas, lakes and marshes, coastal areas, groundwater basins, and elsewhere. The scopeof the river basin subject to river basin management is that described in 1 (1) of Part
2. Given that groundwater constitutes part of the water cycle, it is essential to promote
the “groundwater management” described in 1 of Part 1 in an integrated manner basedon the recognition that groundwater management is included in river basin
management.
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River basin management initiatives are expected to generate a wide range of results,
including focusing a sense of solidarity in the river basin, efficient implementation ofsolutions to issues in the river basin, and stimulating the region through raising theriver basin's brand power.
To deploy high-quality river basin management initiatives nationwide, throughmeans such as further formulation of river basin water cycle plans for river basins
across Japan and enhancing their content, it is important that the actors in river basin
management of local public agencies and other parties related to the river basin
understand and share the goals, effects, issues, and other aspects of initiatives and fully
ascertain the natural and social conditions of the river basin as a whole in order toimplement measures suited to related issues effectively and efficiently. It must be
remembered at this time that groundwater cannot be seen from the surface, which
complicates efforts to get a full picture.
For this reason, support to local public agencies and others will be enhanced throughmeans such as provision of technological advice and know-how concerning river basin
management. In addition, efforts will be advanced in areas such as research to elucidate
the actual conditions of the water cycle, including groundwater, and establishment ofevaluation indicators and methods to make matters such as the soundness of the water
cycle in the river basin and the effect of river basin management efforts visible. In
doing so, research will be advanced with the cooperation of experts and others.
Through these efforts, river basin management will be deployed nationwide and its
quality will be improved, and water cycle innovation by river basin management will
be advanced.
(2) Realization of a safe and sound society through sound water cycle
initiatives－ Responding to risks of climate change, large-scale natural
disasters, etc.－
In light of its distinctive geological, terrain, and meteorological properties, Japan issubject to frequent water-related disasters, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. In
particular, there are concerns that, in recent years, factors such as the impact of global
warming and other forms of climate change are making water-related disasters more
frequent and more severe and leading to increased water-related disaster risk. Under
such circumstances, it is increasingly important to prevent or minimize damage tohuman life, property, and important water infrastructure as a result of large-scale
natural disasters and other causes and to develop national, regional, and economic
societies that are resilient against water-related disasters, earthquakes, and other12

disasters.
For this reason, to be ready for large-scale water-related disasters, earthquakes, etc.,
effective disaster prevention and mitigation and national resilience measures will bepromoted with appropriate combination of tangible and intangible measures forimportant water infrastructure, through a government-wide integrated approach suited
to factors such as the risk of disaster and regional conditions. In addition, in
anticipation of critical droughts in excess of current water supply levels, efforts will
be conducted that include research on evaluation of drought risk, stable supply of waterfrom a risk-management approach, and drought adaptation measures. Furthermore,strategic efforts will be promoted to maintain, manage, and update water infrastructure,and improve its seismic performance, using measures such as wide-area coordinationand public-private partnerships, in accordance with the natural and social conditionsof individual regions. In measures such as risk evaluation, it is important that studies
be based on scientific knowledge, such as monitoring and observation data fromsatellites and other sources and forecasts of climate change.
In addition, through advancing river basin management efforts, sustainable
initiatives will be promoted comprehensively in areas such as sustained demonstrationof the storage and recharge functions of forests, rivers, farmland, urban areas, etc., tohelp prevent floods and global warming as well as sustainable preservation and use ofgroundwater.
These initiatives will contribute to accelerated realization of a safe and soundsociety.
(3) Passing on an abundant society to future generations through asound water cycle－ Awareness raising, publicity, education, and international
contributions regarding a sound water cycle －The land of Japan has been formed through a very close relationship with the water
cycle, from which it benefits greatly, and has been the scene of the development of arich society and unique culture over the nation’s long history. In order to pass along tofuture generations the sound water cycle that has developed in Japan through thisprocess, it is important that the diverse actors involved in a river basin cooperate tocreate and maintain opportunities for members of the public, young to old, to havecontact with water, in order to foster understanding and awareness concerning thewater cycle. In addition, it also is important that the public and private sectors join
together in international deployment of Japan's water-cycle-related experiences,knowledge, and technologies, as well as harmonization among individual governments,
international institutions, etc. and international cooperation, to achieve Goal 6 andGoal 13 (Climate Change) (“Take urgent action to combat climate change and its

13

impacts”) of the SDGs while raising awareness of the importance of the water cycle,
in addition to contributing to solutions to water challenges worldwide, including
improving water management in rural communities.
For this reason, coordination will be achieved on an industry-academy-governmentresidents basis, adding local residents to the industry-academy-government axis, tostrategically promote and raise awareness of, publicize, educate on, and develop
human resources related to sound water cycles, in addition to deepening understandingof and interest in sound water cycles among members of the public broadly, throughefforts such as raising awareness of Water Day and Water Week.
In addition, together with further accelerating international harmonization andinternational cooperation through communication of information and exchange of
opinions in venues such as international conferences on water issues, development
cooperation, and utilization of Japan's technologies, human resources, standards, etc.,
Japan will take leadership in contributing to solutions to global water challenges andachievement of the SDGs by promoting overseas expansion of water-related businessthrough public-private partnership.
By maintaining or recovering a sound water cycle through these initiatives, anenriched society will be passed along to future generations.

6. Structure of this Plan
Part 1 of this Plan first reviews current conditions and issues and then, based on
factors such as changes in socioeconomic conditions, establishes basic policies for
initiatives to be promoted through centralized and comprehensive means and measures
to be implemented in the future from a long-term perspective, in line with the five
fundamental principles stipulated in Article 3 of the Act.
Part 2 specifically describes the measures to be implemented by the Japanese
government comprehensively and systematically, in accordance with the basic policies
described in Part 1. The table below summarizes the relationship between the main
details of priority efforts under this Plan (Introduction: 5) and measures to be taken by
the government with regard to the water cycle (Part 2).

14

Relationship between the main details of priority efforts under this Plan and watercycle-related measures
Main details of priority initiatives under this
Plan
(1)

Water-cycle innovation through river
basin management－ Further deployment of river basin
management and improvements in its
quality ―(2)Realization of a safe and securesociety through sound water cycle
initiatives－ Responding to risks of climatechange, large-scale natural disasters,
etc.－

(3)

Passing on an abundant society tofuture generations through a soundwater cycle－ Awareness raising, publicity,
education, and international
contributions regarding a soundwater cycle －Part 2 Water-cycle-related measures to be taken
comprehensively and systematically by the Japanese
government
1
Promoting cooperation in river basins etc. Framework of comprehensive and integrated
river basin management 2
Proper groundwater preservation and use
6
Measures to promote autonomous activities
by private organizations and others
7
Conducting research necessary to formulate
and implement water cycle policies
8
Promotion of science and technology
3
Maintenance and improvement of storage andrecharge functions
4(1)Securing stable water supplies and drainage
etc.
4(2)
Responding to disasters4(3)Strategic maintenance, management, andupdating of water infrastructure
4(4)Efficient and effective use of water4(9)Responding to global warming
4(5)Water environment
4(6)Water cycle and ecosystems
4(7)Water environment preservation,
rehabilitation, and creation
4(8)Passing along, rehabilitation, and creation ofwater culture5
Promoting education concerning a soundwater cycle etc.
9Securing continued international
collaboration and promoting international
cooperation
10
Water-cycle-related human-resources
development

Furthermore, Part 3 describes matters necessary for the comprehensive andsystematic promotion of measures, such as their effective implementation, the duties
of related parties, coordination and cooperation among them, and publication of
measures.

15

Part 1

Basic policies on measures related to
the water cycle

Although measures related to the water cycle each have their own individual
objectives and targets, in many cases they are closely related in terms of the content ofefforts and related parties. For this reason, the related parties advancing measures needto implement measures with a greater degree of coordination, through mutual sharingof a vision for the future reflecting the distinctive properties of each river basin or
region, with a shared understanding of information and issues in various fields related
to the water cycle.
In addition, based on the view that it is essential to reaffirm the fact that water is ashared asset of humanity and to realize a sound water cycle and the enjoyment of its
benefits into the future, the Headquarters for Water-Cycle Policy promotes measures
under this Plan and comprehensively coordinates measures taken by related
administrative agencies based on this Plan in order to promote water-cycle-related
measures centrally and comprehensively. Also, in deploying measures, individual
government agencies strive to cooperate toward efficient and effective implementationof measures across individual fields, to maintain and recover a sound water cycle.
Additionally, in the process of promoting the measures in this Plan, if steps such asrevision of systems are necessary, they shall be considered promptly and the necessary
measures taken.
Furthermore, information will be committed on world-leading water-cycle-related
measures proactively and strategically.
The basic policies of water-cycle-related measures are described below.

1. Comprehensive and integrated river basin management(Promoting cooperation in river basins etc.)
The water-cycle-related issues faced by a river basin may vary widely in accordancewith its terrain, climate, and other national conditions. These may include securing
appropriate water volumes and water quality for the region, preservation and rechargeof water sources, preservation and use of groundwater, preservation of ecosystems,
disaster countermeasures, and crisis management in response to disasters or droughts.
In addition, because regional properties and distinctive features vary between urban
and rural areas in terms of such conditions as population, industrial structure, economic
society, and natural environment, the water cycle should reflect actual regional
conditions.

16

Also, as described under 5(1) in the Introduction, it must be noted that it is importantthat comprehensive and integrated river basin management be conducted throughcooperation among diverse actors related to the river basin, such as administrators andother public agencies, experts, businesses, groups, and residents, in order to protect the
lives and property of members of the public from water-related disasters and enable
the enjoyment of water's blessings in people's livelihoods.
For this reason, local public agencies, the Japanese government, and other parties
will work to establish river basin water cycle councils with membership including,depending on the actual conditions of the region, of local public agencies, local branch
offices of national government agencies, experts, stakeholders (businesses, groups,
residents involved in irrigation, water recharge, and the water environment in the river
basin, from upstream forests to downstream coastal areas). In addition, to deploy river
basin management initiatives nationwide, it is important to share information on thestate of the water cycle across a broad area, issues and measures, and experience andknowledge obtained from efforts conducted across Japan. For this reason, the Japanese
government will promote efforts to develop an environment to enable collecting andsharing of a wide range of information related to the water cycle.
The river basin water cycle council will formulate the river basin water cycle planand strive to promote measures for the maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle,
flexibly and in stages.
Specifically, to advance water-cycle-related measures in which the region plays anactive role, through coordination and cooperation among individual actors, water cycle
issues in the region and a vision for the future, as well as basic sources and measures
for realizing solutions to these, will be shared among related parties in the river basin
while referring to existing efforts, and the river basin's water cycle will be managed in
a comprehensive and integrated manner for the entire river basin.
In doing so, since the state of water functions related to people's livelihoods andenvironmental preservation may vary greatly by region, it is preferable that targets formaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle be set in understandable ways
corresponding to individual goals, reflecting various existing indicators and the actual
conditions of the region.
In some regions, related parties already have established workshops and otherbodies to address individual issues. The relationship between these existing bodies andthe river basin water cycle council is described in Part 2: 1(2).
(Proper groundwater preservation and use)
Groundwater itself, as well as the springs where groundwater comes to the surface,
are used for diverse purposes including as drinking water, bath water, and otherconsumer water, industrial water, and agricultural water sources, in snow removal inheavy-snowfall regions, and as energy sources using groundwater heat and its otherproperties. It also provides places where biodiversity is preserved, relaxation areas,17

environmental learning venues, and tourism resources.
On the other hand, since in general, groundwater moves at a very slow speed, ittakes a very long time to recover from groundwater damage such as ground subsidence,salination, groundwater pollution. In particular, since ground subsidence is an
irreversible process, it is very difficult to recover from it once it has occurred.
Sustainable groundwater preservation and use requires protecting regional
groundwater and using it as a water resource as well as efforts to prevent damage togroundwater (such as ground subsidence, salination, groundwater pollution) andpreserve ecosystems, among other aims.
Groundwater is a familiar water source put to various uses and is related to regionalsociety and culture in broad-ranging ways. On the other hand, many aspects of theunderground structures where groundwater is present remain unclear due to theirextremely strong regional properties and diversity (such as groundwater reserves;
inflows, outflows, and behavior; and relations between surface water and groundwater),and research on changes in groundwater levels with changes in daily precipitation andtemporal trends of precipitation due to climate change has not progressed. Moreover,groundwater flow may be subject to multiple local public agencies depending on theextent of the aquifer and other factors. In light of the fact that water is a valuable
resource shared by the public, with a highly public nature, there is a need to begin
measures such as ascertaining the actual states of groundwater use and behavior inorder to promote sustainable groundwater preservation and use while achieving
consensus among related parties in the region.
Since in general, groundwater use and related issues have very high regional natures,
local public agencies and other related parties in the region are actors in managementof consensus in the region regarding fostering a shared understanding of the issues,
ascertaining and analyzing the actual states of groundwater use and behavior,visualization, preservation of water volumes and water quality, recharge, andextraction, among other factors ("groundwater management" hereinafter), and efforts
will be made to coordinate this management while paying attention to the relationshipbetween surface water and groundwater.
The Act was amended to clarify the status of groundwater in June 2021. Specifically,
the Act clearly states that “measures for proper groundwater preservation and use”
shall be included in water cycle-related measures related to be implemented by thenational government and local public agencies. It further states that businesses shallbe obligated to cooperate with such measures and that the public shall also endeavor
to cooperate with them. In addition, “proper groundwater preservation and use” wasadded to the “basic measures” to be taken by the national and local public agencies,and national and local public agencies are now obliged to make efforts to takenecessary measures with reference to the concept of groundwater management.
In accordance with the amended Act, local public agencies will strive to promote
groundwater management efforts in their respective regions, and the national18

government will support proactive initiatives by local public agencies and otherentities in their regions.

2. Proactively promoting initiatives to maintain or recover asound water cycle(Maintenance and improvement of storage and recharge functions)Through the processes of evaporation into the atmosphere, precipitation to the earth,and flowing downhill or being filtered underground, eventually reaching the sea orother bodies of water, the water cycle is centered on surface water or groundwater inriver basins. To maintain or recover a sound water cycle, it is essential to maintain andimprove the water storage and recharge functions of forests, rivers, farmland, urban
areas, etc.
However, forests and farmland suffer from labor shortages, primarily in regions
where depopulation of rural communities and aging of owners and managers areadvancing, leading to concerns about increasing difficulty of maintaining anddemonstrating water source recharge functions. In addition, decreased underground
filtration of rainwater could lead to depletion of spring water and decreases in rivers'
normal water flows, resulting in problems such as water quality degradation, andincreased flows during flooding. Furthermore, although ground subsidence due to overpumping of groundwater has leveled off in recent years, there still remain numerous
regions in which subsidence is proceeding, and groundwater levels have not yet
recovered in some regions.
For this reason, efforts will be advanced to maintain and improve water storage andrecharge functions and to provide information about the background and effects ofsuch efforts, while paying close attention to the effects on groundwater volumes andquality.
(Promoting education concerning a sound water cycle etc.)
Water is a valuable resource shared by the public, with a highly public nature; it isdeeply related to people's lives in various ways; and factors such as water volumes andwater quality greatly impact people's livelihoods. For these and other reasons, it isimportant that members of the public learn about the importance of water fromchildhood, learn to think and act in ways that involve use of water with care,
understand the deep ties between water and regional history, atmosphere, and culture,and learn the importance of maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle.
It also is important to note that ties between the water used in everyday living andthe water cycle can be difficult to identify, and to create an environment for efforts

19

related to maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle in which not only children
but all members of the public understand and appreciate water's importance and thevital nature of maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle.
While water is cyclical, since the cycle is uneven over time and between regions,
there are quantitative and qualitative restrictions to its use as a resource. There is aneed to foster anew an understanding that our water use has been supported by therepeated, unceasing efforts and application of ingenuity of our ancestors, even before
modern times, and unceasing efforts to develop, maintain, and manage infrastructuresuch as water infrastructure and forests. In addition, it is important to encourage people
to take an interest in the water cycle by fostering throughout society an atmosphereand culture in which many people, from young to old but especially among the younger
generation, feel involved in efforts related to the water cycle, including sympathy andgratitude for water's benefits and people in water reservoir areas, as well as
understanding of the harm that the water cycle can cause, such as floods and drought.
In addition, to pass along a sound water cycle to future generations, there are needs tocreate opportunities for contact with nearby water and learning about water, and tofoster awareness of water.
Furthermore, to deepen the understanding and interest of members of the publicconcerning the importance of a sound water cycle in a broad sense, the Act designates
August 1 as Water Day, and the government designates the week starting on this dateas Water Week. It is important to systematically advance events suited to the goals of
this day and week through cooperation among diverse actors nationwide.
In light of the above factors, in order to enable individual members of the public tothink about what they should do in order to continue enjoying water's benefits and act
accordingly, with an understanding and appreciation of the importance of the water
cycle, while recognizing that water benefits people's livelihoods, and that it also canharm them as a result of water-related disasters and similar situations, and to promote
an understanding of the connectedness of the water cycle to fields such as weather,
forests, rivers, agriculture, urban areas, waterworks, sewer systems, the environment,
groundwater, rainwater management, living creatures, and chemistry, measures will
be taken to raise awareness of, publicize, educate on, and provide information about
the water cycle, as well as encouraging autonomous action by members of the public
in connection with maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle, through industryacademy-government-resident cooperation.
In particular, to raise awareness of the water cycle, including recognition of Water
Day and Water Week, publicity and awareness-raising activities will be carried out
through proactive and strategic support for regional efforts and communication of
information internationally. In addition, through means such as preparation of
educational tools and programs, efforts will be made to encourage understanding andappreciation of the water cycle among members of the public of all generations, young
to old.
(Carrying out research as necessary to formulate and implement water
cycle measures and promotion of science and technology)
It is important that research and studies concerning the water cycle be promoted
20

from an overall perspective, through coordination by related government agencies andcross-functional sharing of information across fields, while based on research
conducted in individual fields.
Current water-cycle-related issues include the aging of water infrastructure,
increasing risks of water-related disasters due to factors such as global warming andother forms of climate change, changes in physical cycles related to the water cycle,
and the need to ascertain the actual conditions of groundwater.
It is important to promote research and development on technologies needed toaddress these issues: water infrastructure maintenance, management, and upgrading
technologies to contribute to river improvement and stable water supplies; monitoringand observation by satellites etc., clarification of mechanisms such as global warming
and other forms of climate change, and prediction and assessment of its impacts; andtechnologies for quantitatively ascertaining groundwater behavior, including water
volumes and water quality. Also important is research on subjects such as evaluation
methods to visualize the soundness of the water cycle in a river basin and the effectsof river basin management initiatives on the regional environment and people's
activities. Also, as advanced technologies such as IoT, robotics, and AI are being
incorporated into various industrial and social activities, there is a need to advanceresearch related to maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle while keeping in
mind the realization of "Society 5.0," as a new society balancing economic growthwith resolution of social issues.
Furthermore, to stimulate science and technology related to the water cycle andpromote their implementation in society, there is a need to promote publication andsharing of research results in easy-to-use formats and encourage their effective use, as
well as developing systems for the smooth and swift spread of newly developed
technologies, at fair prices, both domestically and internationally.
To implement these measures under conditions of limited budgets and systems, it isimportant to consider their priorities and to implement research that is feasible andtruly necessary, as well as developing low-priced technologies. In addition, in order to
put research data to maximum use, another important issue is that of how to collectand share data from individual institutes and provide them in formats that are easy to
use in accordance with the places using them and users' needs.
In light of the above factors, measures will be taken to formulate policies related tomaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle and, in order to implement them froman overall perspective, to ascertain the necessary data, implement necessary research
including observations, collect and share the results thereof, and promote research aswell as science and technology.
(Water-cycle-related human-resources development)
While Japan's water-cycle-related water management, supply, and treatment
services have accumulated numerous advanced technologies, these can be maintained,
21continued, and upgraded only by accumulation of experience and handing them down
to future generations.
Human-resources development is fundamental to all aspects of promoting measures
to maintain or recover a sound water cycle. However, amid structural changes tosociety in areas such as the scale of population, there are concerns about shortages ofhuman resources and concentration of workload in connection with water
infrastructure operation, maintenance, management, and upgrading, as well as researchand technological development. In addition, under such circumstances, thequalifications and capabilities demanded from those employed in water-cycle-related
activities are growing increasingly advanced and diverse, in connection withtechnological advances and integration. It is important to train in each generation,
including the young and middle-aged generations, science and technology researchersand practitioners to put such technologies and information to full use, with an eye
toward comprehensive initiatives conducted for individual river basins from a
medium- to long-term perspective to maintain or recover a sound water cycle.
In addition, to operate the water infrastructure properly and maintain, manage, andupgrade it accordingly, it is essential to systematize standards based on a certain levelof technical knowledge and train human resources able to carry out these tasks properly.
For this reason, there is a need both to study centralization of knowledge related towater infrastructure operation, maintenance, management, and upgrading and toenhance qualification systems and implement appropriate training and other activities.
Furthermore, it also is important to broaden the base of efforts to maintain or recovera sound water cycle, to achieve industry-academy-government-resident cooperation
for broad human-resources development related to the water cycle, and to encourage
the participation of specialized human resources with knowledge and expertise
concerning water-cycle-related initiatives in addition to new participation by membersof the public interested in the water cycle.
Since human-resources development is an issue common to all fields, proactive
human-resources development initiatives will be advanced from a more broad-ranging
point of view, to encourage human-resources cycles and exchanges across theboundaries separating the sectors of industry, academy, government, and residents, andacross international boundaries.
(Measures to promote autonomous activities by private organizations
and others)
An important role also is played in maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycleby businesses, members of the public, or private-sector organizations made up of these
actors, who understand their own relations to the water cycle and engage in social
activities on their own. It is hoped that private-sector organizations with roots in theircommunities will expand their activities related to the water cycle and deploy theirown unique efforts above and beyond existing frameworks of administrators and22others. There also is a movement toward such actors proactively taking on themselves
roles traditionally played by administrators. To promote such activities of privatesector organizations, it is important to consider the forms to be taken by cooperationand division of responsibilities with private-sector organizations and to develop
cooperative systems.
In doing so, there is a need to ensure that it is understood that proactive participationin river basin management with an understanding of the river basin to which they
belong and its own distinctive properties, and activities with an awareness ofmaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle, not only contribute to maintenanceor recovery of a sound water cycle in the region but also lead to increased value forthe private-sector organizations themselves. For this reason, it is important to launch
initiatives to publicize proactively the soundness of the regional water cycle in order
to increase the value of the region and to raise awareness both inside and outside of
the region.
In addition, to promote social activities by private-sector organizations, it isnecessary to resolve issues in areas such as development of human resources with theskills to manage the groups' activities, securing funding for the activities, disclosing
information on the activities, providing activity knowledge and know-how, andnetworking among private-sector organizations involved in activities.
In light of such circumstances, together with stimulating autonomous activities byprivate-sector organizations and promoting networking to encourage cooperation
among private-sector organizations, through means such as developing platforms,
efforts will be made in areas such as provision and sharing of information in thepossession of administrative agencies and other parties, including case studies
concerning knowledge and know-how regarding securing funding for activities, inorder to increase value to private-sector organizations.
Furthermore, measures will be advanced to grow activities in areas such as learning
about the water cycle across the regions that include the private-sector organizations.

3. Ensuring proper use of water and enjoyment of its benefits(Securing safe, high-quality water)
Safe, high-quality water benefits all users of consumer water, industrial water,
agricultural water, and other types of water. In particular, there is increasing demand
for safe, delicious drinking water, and the quality of drinking water is attracting
increasing attention in terms of safety and peace of mind. In light of these conditions,further efforts focused on water quality are important.
Under such conditions, efforts will be advanced to preserve water quality inwaterworks' water reservoir areas, to revise waterworks' water quality standards
gradually, and to implement measures based on the Water Pollution Prevention Act(Act No. 138 of 1970). In addition, in accordance with regional conditions such as thewater quality of waterworks' water sources, to further reduce damage resulting in
unusual odors or tastes, measures will be advanced such as adoption of advanced water23

treatment facilities, together with efforts to reduce the pollution burdens in river basins.
(Strategic

maintenance,

management,

andupdating

of

water

infrastructure etc.)
Water infrastructure is an important form of infrastructure that supports the
livelihoods of the public and industrial activities. However, since it was developed
rapidly beginning in Japan's postwar period of rapid economic growth and the numberof facilities that have reached the stage at which renovation is required is increasing
rapidly, there is a need for strategic maintenance, management, upgrading, and otherefforts while also carrying out appropriate risk management.
In addition, to maintain future facility functions, service levels, and safety, in
accordance with regional conditions including depopulation, low birth rates, and agingof the population, it is necessary to implement measures such as strategic maintenance,
management, and upgrading together with responding to financial conditions, staff
shortages, maintenance of technological capabilities, etc.
In particular, in some cases, projects in areas such as waterworks, sewer systems,
and industrial waterworks, for which local public agencies are key actors, cannot
necessarily be said to be able to secure sufficient revenues from rates in light ofchanging social conditions such as population decreases, and for this reason, it isimportant in preparing for maintenance, management, and upgrading of aging
infrastructure to consider wide-area coordination, appropriate asset management, anddiverse public-private partnership, to enhance project infrastructure strategically.
In addition, among agricultural water-use facilities, canals and holding ponds near
farmland have until now been supported through joint activities in the region, basedon rural communities. However, obstacles to preservation management are arising due
to decreases in the functioning of rural communities resulting from developments suchas depopulation in rural regions, low birth rates and the aging of the population, andmixture of residential and other functions, and as a result, it is important to develop
structures for sustainable preservation management.
In light of the above considerations, strategic maintenance, management, upgrading,and other measures will be promoted to extend the lifespans of aged water
infrastructure, upgrade it appropriately, and improve its seismic performance, among
other goals.
(Efficient and effective use of water)With regard to rationalization of water use, efforts are underway such as
streamlining of agricultural water facilities and diverting the resulting surplus
agricultural water for use in urban areas. In the future as well, from the perspective ofeffective use of water resources, it will be important, in the event that supply-demand
imbalances have arisen within or between uses such as consumer water, industrial
water, and agricultural water in a region due to changing social and economic
conditions, to further advance diversion of water to other uses in accordance withactual regional conditions, through mutual understanding among related parties. In
addition, with regard to water conservation, an awareness needs to be fostered among
members of the public of the importance of using water wisely.

24

Rainwater and reclaimed water are expected to see use as substitute water sources
for use in toilets, sprinklers, and firefighting, both in normal times and in emergencies,
as environmental resources used to provide friendly access to, and as energy resources
for energy conversation and low-carbon, sustainable energy creation through means
such as putting sewage heat to effective use.
For the above reasons, water is a valuable resource shared by the public, with ahighly public nature. In light of this fact, measures will be advanced to put water
resources to effective use, including more efficient use of water, water conservation,use of rainwater and reclaimed water.
(Responding to global warming)
The Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report(AR6) of the
UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that it isunequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land; it isvery likely that heavy precipitation events will intensify and become more frequent inmost regions with additional global warming.; and that additional global warming
causes clearly discernible increases in the intensity and frequency of agricultural andecological droughts in some regions. In addition, the Working Group II contribution
to the Sixth Assessment Report mentions the impacts of human-induced climatechange, stating that "Human-induced climate change, including more frequent andintense extreme events, has caused widespread adverse impacts and related losses anddamages to nature and people, beyond natural climate variability." The report also
states that if global warming transiently exceeds 1.5°C, then many human and natural
systems will face additional severe risks compared to remaining below 1.5°C, that withincreasing global warming, losses and damages will increase and additional humanand natural systems will reach adaptation limits.
"Climate Change in Japan 2020," issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology and the Japan Meteorological Agency, states that
although no significant trends are seen with respect to Japan's annual precipitation at
the end of the 21st century, the frequency of heavy rainfall and the annual maximum
daily precipitation are expected to increase significantly on average nationwide. For
example, if temperatures increase by 4°C in the future compared to pre-industrial
levels, the annual number of days with daily precipitation of 200 mm or more is
projected to increase by about 2.3 times on average nationwide, and the annual
maximum daily precipitation is projected to increase by about 27% (about 33 mm) on
average nationwide. On the other hand, the number of days with less than 1.0 mm ofprecipitation per day is also expected to increase significantly throughout most of thecountry. Thus, the ways rainfall occurs are projected to become more and more
extreme as global warming progresses. For these reasons, there is a need for integrated
responses to water-related disasters in river basin management, keeping in mind thepossibility that the water cycle could change dramatically in the future due to criticaldroughts, water disasters, soil disasters, and other causes.
In recent years, Japan has suffered heavy damage due to frequent water and soil
disasters. Such disasters include the September 2015 torrential downpours in the Kanto
25and Tohoku regions, the July 2017 torrential downpours in northern Kyushu, the July
2018 torrential downpours, the 2019 east Japan typhoon, the July 2020 torrential
downpours, and heavy rains that began on July 1, 2021. In response to the July 2018
torrential downpours, the Japan Meteorological Agency for the first time mentioned
the impact of global warming with regard to an individual disaster, reporting, "Thereis a possibility that long-term increases in temperature and a long-term increasing trend
in water vapor in the atmosphere due to global warming contributed." Thus, it statedclearly that global warming and other forms of climate change already are being
occurring. The 2019 east Japan typhoon caused loss of life and homes over a wide
area and severe social and economic damage due to large-scale flooding resulting fromlevee breaks and breaches and suspension of water supply and drainage systems.
There is a possibility that in the future, increased precipitation due to heavy rainfall
and rising sea levels could cause water and soil disasters to become increasingly
frequent and severe, interrupting water supply and drainage systems overall. In
addition, there are concerns about the effects on water treatment of high-turbidity raw
water resulting from the increasing frequency of short-term strong downpours andheavy rainfall. Furthermore, there also are concerns about results such as impacts onwater safety and increased musty odors affecting water flavor, as well as ecosystemchanges, due to coastal groundwater salination and backflows of saltwater from thesea upstream into rivers due to rising sea levels and decreased residual chlorine
densities in waterworks water due to rising temperatures. There also is a need to pay
attention to decreased quality of agricultural produce due to rising temperature (hightemperature injury) and changes in water demand to prevent this.
There is a possibility that supplies could decrease from levels planned at the time ofdevelopment of water-resource development facilities due to factors such as increasing
numbers of days with no precipitation and decreased snow accumulation, and recent
years have seen droughts occur across Japan that required restrictions on water
pumping. While quantitative forecasts involve uncertainty, there is a possibility that
global warming and other forms of climate change could further reduce available
supplies, and there are concerns of increasing risks of drought in the future.
Individual government agencies are proceeding with measures to adapt to various
impacts associated with climate change in accordance with the Climate Change
Adaptation Plan (approved by the Cabinet of Japan on October 22, 2021) based on the
Climate Change Adaptation Act (Act No. 50 of 2018). Global warming and other formsof climate change will be addressed through efforts to protect the public's lives andproperty and achieve a sustainable economic society in the future, and efforts to avoid
and lessen both present and future damage will be undertaken to achieve themaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle.
As for mitigation measures, individual government agencies are promoting
initiatives to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and topromote the introduction of renewable energy in accordance with the Plan for Global
Warming Countermeasures (approved by the Cabinet on October 22, 2021), which isbased on the Law Concerning the Promotion of the Measures to Cope with Global

26

Warming (Act No. 117 of 1998). They will continue making every effort to implement
mitigation measures as they work to achieve the maintenance or recovery of a soundwater cycle.
(Responding to critical droughts)
To improve the lives of the public and achieve sustainable development of economic
society, national policies are based on securing stable sources of water. To meet rapidly
growing water demand during Japan's postwar period of rapid economic growth,water-resource development was conducted with the aim of securing a stable supplyof water based on the highest-ranking drought year in a 10-year period in principle. As
a result, water-resource facilities have been developed nationwide to a certain level.
However, in some regions, insufficiencies in water supply are apparent, such as
some facilities undergoing improvement work or some regions still having unstablewater intake. In addition, in recent years, climate change has led to the realization ofrisks and issues that, while infrequent, could have major impacts on water supply, suchas critical droughts. For these reasons, there is a need to convert steadily fromtraditional demand-driven water-resource development to water-resource polices
based on risk management, intended to achieve a stable water supply.
Other necessary measures include assessment of the stability of water supply andrisk of drought at existing facilities, assuming that measures will be taken to preventand lessen drought damage, and sharing of information on drought risk among actors
such as the national government, local public agencies, users, businesses, and residents
to be ready for a drought in cooperation.
For this reason, based on the history of water networks and regions, theirbackgrounds, distinctive properties, and actual conditions, the national government,
local public agencies and others will anticipate future critical droughts and cooperatewith related parties to establish measures to lessen the impact and damage from adrought and promote initiatives to be ready for a critical drought.
In addition, in the seven water systems related to the water-resource development inJapan in which about 50% of the nation's industry and population are concentrated,basic water-resource development plans have been formulated based oncomprehensive development of water resources and rationalization of use, and thesebasic plans will be revised thoroughly to create new plans based on risk management.
Through such measures, the water supply and demand balance will be inspectedcomprehensively, even taking into consideration times of critical drought, and tangible
measures will be advanced as basic strategies for thorough utilization of existing
facilities as well as necessary intangible measures, in an integrated manner, to develop
structures for stable use of safe, reliable water and realize a society in which water's
benefits can continue to be enjoyed in the future.

27

(Responding to disasters)
Throughout its long history, Japan has continued to maintain efforts intended toprotect the public's lives and property from harms such as water and soil disasters,
earthquakes, and other disasters on its fragile terrain.
As a nation with a high potential risk of flooding, Japan has strived to improve thesafety of river improvement with consideration for the environment, to drain floods
safely downstream. It also has advanced efforts such as countermeasures against soil
disasters and forestry improvement measures in decayed forests. Additionally, toaddress the increasing frequency and severity of flood and landslide disasters in recent
years and further increases in precipitation due to the effects of climate change, flood
control measures taken by the national and prefectural river managers and sewage
system managers will be accelerated, and all parties concerned, including relevant
national government bodies, prefectural governments, municipalities, local businesses
and residents, will work together to promote flood control measures (hereinafterreferred to as “river basin flood control”) with focus on entire river basins (e.g.,
upstream to downstream sections, main rivers, and tributaries).
At the same time, large-scale natural disasters such as water disasters andearthquakes in recent years have revealed vulnerabilities in water infrastructure, suchas extensive and long-term interruptions in operation of water supply facilities due tofacility damage or temporary cutoff of energy and suspicion of the functioning ofsewer treatment facilities due to flooding.
There are concerns about large-scale damage to water supply and drainage systems
and severe sanitary issues, as well as pollution of public waters and groundwater, inthe event that damage to facilities resulting from an anticipated future large-scaledisaster requires a lengthy period to recover. At the same time, measures such as
seismic retrofitting of water infrastructure still cannot be said to be sufficient.
In addition, since water supply and drainage systems involve multiple facility
managers and users, the water infrastructure network is a complex structure of multiple
facilities each developed in line with their own goals. As a result, even though in somecases, the supply from the network may be maintained if only some facilities aredamaged, there also are cases in which the impact is broad ranging and long-lasting,due to secondary damage to water supply and drainage systems in addition to thebusinesses directly affected.
For this reason, efforts will be advanced to protect human life and property fromdisasters through administrators, residents, and others working together and taking into
consideration the views of experts, users, and other parties. Other measures advanced
include seismic retrofitting and formation and implementation of business continuity
plans (BCPs) to maintain the functionality of water supply and drainage systems at theminimum levels necessary to serve residents and social and economic activities in theevent of a large-scale disaster or power failure, development of mutual assistancestructures for recovery of water infrastructure and related training, which also assists
with human-resources development, and preparations for temporary use of28

groundwater or other water sources.

4. Maintaining a sound water cycle in use of water(Water environment)
To maintain a sound water cycle, use the resources needed in people's lives insustainable ways, and secure good habitats and growing and breeding environments
for living creatures, preservation of water environments must be managed
appropriately, through means including securing appropriate water volumes and water
quality. To avoid or mitigate as much as possible any effects on a sound water cycleand enable efficient water use, it is important both to secure water volumes throughcooperation among related parties and to prevent pollution through means such as
appropriate treatment and regulation of drain water, in addition to appropriate use ofwater with consideration for the water environment.
Until now, environmental quality standards have been established as water quality
targets for public waters and groundwater, to protect the health of the public andpreserve the living environment. Efforts in areas such as drain water and groundwaterpollution, aiming to achieve these standards, have made steady progress on improving
water pollution.
On the other hand, numerous issues remain in the water environment, such as theneed to improve water quality in lakes and marshes, closed coastal seas, andgroundwater, biodiversity preservation, and securing appropriate physical cycles.
Accordingly, there is a need to continue progress in preservation and recovery of thewater environment.
Furthermore, to work comprehensively toward maintenance or recovery of a soundwater cycle, it is important to develop a structure for integrated collection, sharing, anduse of information concerning the water cycle, such as water volumes and water quality,
surface water and groundwater, and normal and drought conditions, throughcooperation among related parties. In addition, for purposes of further improving ofwater quality, it is important to switch to appropriate treatment facilities.
The goal for the future will be to create a society that preserves and enables
sustainable use of the water environment, including water volumes, water quality, andaquatic creatures, in accordance with the river basin's distinctive properties, while
coherently carrying out river improvement and irrigation development, from theperspective of maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle and with consideration
for a desirable society, current and future social conditions, technological levels, andquality of life, while also reflecting applicable laws, regulations, etc.
(Water cycle and ecosystems)

29

The water cycle linking forests, rivers, farmland, urban areas, lakes and marshes,
coastal areas, groundwater basins, etc., is an important axis of the national network of
ecosystems. These links realize movement and dispersal activity of native species andappropriate soil movements, which in turn protect sound physical cycles of materials
such as nutritive salt, which helps maintain the habitation, growth, and propagation of
not only plankton in coastal areas but specific plants and animals as well.
In this way, the water cycle both serves as a foundation of ecosystems and is very
important from the perspective of preservation of biodiversity.
In addition, the water cycle is deeply related to ecosystem services that benefit
ecosystems containing diverse creatures, in areas such as drinking water and stabilityof water and climate. For this reason, it must be noted that appropriate ecosystemmanagement in river basins not only helps to preserve creatures' habitats and growing
and breeding grounds but also is connected to improving of the river basin's ecosystemservices, including water storage, water purification, erosion prevention, and supplyof fisheries resources such as the fish in the sea, rivers, lakes, and marshes, and tomaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle.
Furthermore, it also is important to demonstrate the vitality of each region to theutmost through mutual complementation of resources suited to the distinctive
properties of each region while also forming an autonomous and distributed society
and utilizing regional resources, including ecosystems, to the maximum extent.
In light of these factors, ecosystem preservation and rehabilitation efforts will bepromoted taking into consideration the river basin as a whole and seeing forests,
countryside, rivers, and the sea as a contiguous space.
(Waterside spaces preservation, rehabilitation, and creation)
Waterside spaces such as rivers, lakes, marshes, canals, agricultural drainage ditches,and reservoirs are habitats and growing and breeding environments for diverse
creatures as well as places closely related to human living, and they serve as importantelements in preservation and creation of regional history, culture, and traditions. They
also have roles such as serving as places for relaxation, making a living, recreation,and coming together, and they inspire reverence for nature. Their other functions
include replacing lifeline services in a disaster and mitigating the heat-island effect.
On the other hand, rapid economic growth and other factors have caused people togrow less involved in and aware of waterside areas in their lives. Based on these factors,
together with further preservation, rehabilitation, and creation of waterside spaces,
measures will be advanced further to put waterside spaces in the river basin to effective
use and demonstrate their functions effectively.
(Passing along, rehabilitation, and creation of water culture)30

Over a long period of time, tangible and intangible water cultures have formed as
people in a region have affected its rivers and river basins to use its water wisely. This
culture takes shape and is refined over time, while also losing certain of its aspects
repeatedly. At the same time, in some regions, it is becoming difficult to pass along
diverse regional water culture due to various issues including the atrophying ofcommunity as well as changes in the water cycle brought on by dramatic changes innature and society, and the effects of such changes. For this reason, efforts will bepromoted both to pass along and revive water culture handed down from our ancestors
and to create new water culture, through advancing and maintaining initiatives tovitalize the diverse local communities and regional cultures in a river basin.
In addition, in water source areas, together with measures toward rehabilitation ofresidents' livelihood, measures targeting such regions will continue through means
such as various improvements to the living environment and industrial infrastructure.

5. Promoting water-cycle-related initiatives throughinternational cooperation(Securing international collaboration and promoting international
cooperation)
In recent years, severe and devastating floods and droughts have been occurringaround the world, and international efforts have become even more important thanever, through means including positioning the responses to each water-related disasterin international goals and sharing of knowledge. In addition, from a global perspective,
access to safe water and basic sanitation facilities remains inadequate, while progressin areas such as economic growth and urbanization has led to concerns about waterpollution and impacts on ecosystems. As a result, enhancement of water-supply
facilities and drainage treatment facilities is becoming an important issue.
Furthermore, while there also is a need to promote efficient use of agricultural water
to counter food shortages and rural poverty, the state of water management in ruralcommunities is inadequate in terms of both organizations and technologies, and it isimportant to adopt measures such as improvements to water-management technologies

31and human-resources development.
Under such circumstances, in order to reaffirm the understanding that water is anasset shared by humanity and to enhance measures around the world in areas such as
stable water supplies, appropriate treatment of drain water, and responding to waterrelated disasters, international coordination and cooperation regarding water will beadvancedincooperation

withinternational

institutions,nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs), and others, through means including more effective support for
the autonomous efforts of developing countries. In doing so, Japan will contribute tosolutions to global water issues by demonstrating leadership and sharing with theinternational community its own experiences and lessons in areas such as responding
to water-related disasters and treatment of drainage water.
In addition, there also is a need to further advance overseas expansion of information
on Japan's water cycle history and experiences and the outstanding water-related
structures, technologies, systems, etc. which have accumulated resultantly, because theoverseas expansion will contribute not only to solutions to global water issues but also
to stimulation of Japan's economy. For this reason, to steadily advance theInfrastructure System Overseas Promotion Strategy 2025 that is a part of Japan's
strategies for growth and international deployment, overseas expansion ofcomprehensive and integrated systems will be advanced in accordance with the needsof individual countries, from the vision and planning stages through maintenance andmanagement. In doing so, to enable overseas expansion of infrastructure systems
utilizing Japan's outstanding technologies and expertise in the field of water, thegovernment will enhance coordination with local public agencies, businesses, andother partners and support businesses' overseas expansion from the project-formation
stage.
These initiatives also will contribute to achievement of the SDGs, and for this reason,
it is important for Japan both to communicate information broadly to domestic andoverseas related parties and to collect useful knowledge and information from aroundthe world.

32

Part 2

Water-cycle-related measures to betaken comprehensively andsystematically by the Japanese
government

1. Promoting cooperation in river basins etc. - Framework ofcomprehensive and integrated river basin management (1)Scope of river basin
Since maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle requires activities in which
related parties share certain courses of action and cooperation with each other, there isa need to build frameworks for doing so within individual regions. For this reason,
river basins will be considered as entire regions in which people's activities are
impacted by the water cycle, including regions in which groundwater is cultivated, isfiltered, flows, and is stored, regions in which water is used, and coastal areas impacted
by land areas, in addition to considering them as simple geographical units in which
rainwater flows into rivers.
(2)

Thinking on comprehensive and integrated river basin

management
In river basin management, efforts will be made to implement measures such as
establishment of river basin water cycle councils in individual river basins, formulationof river basin water cycle plans to establish basic policies and other matters related toriver basin management in the river basins, and appropriate preservation, management,
facility development, activities, etc. in the river basin through cooperation among
related actors, centered on administrators and other public agencies in the river basinwater cycle council, in accordance with actual regional conditions.
In addition to management of the river basin as a whole as a unit consisting of water
systems such as rivers, lakes, and marshes, river basin management also needs toemploy management conducted in units such as sub-river basins and administrative
areas with specific goals, including tributaries, lakes, and marshes. For this reason, inwater systems in which maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle is necessary
for the river basin as a whole, a framework will be set up for establishment of river
basin water cycle councils for individual water systems as well as setting up separate
river basin water cycle councils for units such as sub-river basins and administrative
areas with specific goals, in accordance with the regional distinctive properties andactual conditions, to promote activities individually while taking into consideration
matters including regional economic stimulation. To ensure that they will besustainable, it is desirable that river basin water cycle councils have funding sourcesfrom various means such as subsidies from administrators, private sector funding, andtheir own funding.
Already, some regions have set up councils and other bodies in which water-relatedparties address individual issues. River basin water cycle councils basically are33

positioned as a venue for discussing basic matters related to maintenance or recovery
of a sound water cycle, from a comprehensive and overall approach, without impeding
the activities of these existing councils and other bodies. It is desirable that the latter
gradually become positioned as subcommittees or working groups of the river basinwater cycle councils, to establish an integrated framework for the future. If thestructures and participating actors in these existing councils and other bodies are
suitable in light of the goals and content of river basin management, then they evencould be positioned as river basin water cycle councils.
In addition to this, it is important that groundwater management for the purpose ofproper groundwater preservation and use be undertaken based on the recognition that
it is part of river basin management. Moreover, efforts related to river basin flood
control plans that are based on the Act on Countermeasures against Flood Damage ofSpecified Rivers Running Across Cities (Act No. 77 of 2003) shall be systematicallypromoted as part of river basin coordination.
(3)

Establishment of a river basin water cycle council and
○

○

○

○

○

formulation of a river basin water cycle plan
Local public agencies, the national government, and others will strive toestablish river basin water cycle councils, with membership including local
public agencies, local branch offices of national government agencies, experts,
and stakeholders, and promote river basin management initiatives, based on
the units of individual river basins, in accordance with actual regional
conditions, including the state of existing cooperation in the river basin.
In accordance with actual regional conditions, it also is conceivable that river
basin water cycle councils would be established as councils for addressing
specific fields related to the water cycle, such as drought responses,
groundwater management, and the water environment, or as subcommittees
or working groups in specific fields or units of sub-river basins underneaththe water-system river basin water cycle council.
Depending on actual regional circumstances, councils dealing with specificfields related to the water cycle, such as river basin flood control councils
established under the Specific Municipal River Flood Damage Control Act,may be established separately from the river basin water cycle council. In
such cases, the councils will be held jointly to reduce administrative burdens
and promote coordination of their respective efforts.
Also, depending on the goals, river basin water cycle councils could beestablished as multilayered structures for river basins, by setting them up
regardless of the size of the river basin, such as the scope of tributaries, lakes
and marshes, or aquifers and administrative districts, instead of in units ofwater systems.
To advance water-cycle-related measures, the river basin water cycle council
will formulate a river basin water cycle plan through sharing of various typesof information related to the water cycle, such as water volumes, water quality,
water use, groundwater conditions, environmental conditions, cultural
34

○

○

○

○

(4)
○

○

(5)
○

conditions, and water-related disasters, through coordination and cooperation
among related parties, while fully reflecting matters such as various opinions
in the river basin water cycle council, the river basin's distinctive properties,
and other existing plans. In doing so, close attention also will be paid toregional creation efforts, such as improving the regional brand power throughwater-cycle-related measures. The method of proceeding with formulation ofsuch plans will be decided by the related parties making up the river basinwater cycle council, in accordance with the goals of the plan and the scale ofits scope.
When a river basin water cycle plan has been prepared or is to be prepared,
and a river basin flood control plan or other plan that includes the river basinin question has been prepared or is to be prepared separately, efforts will bemade to ensure conformity between the two plans.
It is desirable that the river basin water cycle council be a part of a structure
for mutual coordination among related parties in areas such as urban planning,community development, and land use.
To enable local public agencies and others to carry out appropriate andeffective river basin management efforts, the government will provide
organic coordination and support for local public agencies and others.
The government will support coordination and sharing of information on
activities among river basin water cycle councils which act in different river
basins.
Content of the river basin water cycle plan
The river basin water cycle plan will be established in stages based on actual
regional conditions, including (i) current and future issues, (ii) philosophiesand visions for the future, (iii) goals related to maintenance or recovery of asound water cycle, (iv) measures implemented to achieve goals, and (v)indicators of the state of a sound water cycle and progress on related plans.
The river basin water cycle council will cooperate with related parties toimplement water-cycle-related measures for forests, rivers, farmland, urban
areas, lakes and marshes, coastal areas, groundwater basins, etc., in order toenable organic cooperation under the basic river basin management policies
identified in the river basin water cycle plan.
River basin water cycle planning process and evaluation
In formulating the river basin water cycle plan, the river basin water cycle
council will strive to coordinate and reflect various views from related parties
such as administrators, experts, businesses, groups, and residents. In addition,
to reflect the views of residents and others, efforts will be made to develop
measures necessary for participation of residents and others in accordancewith actual regional conditions, such as participation of residents'
35

○

(6)
○
○

○

○

representatives in the river basin water cycle council, concluding surveys, andholding symposia.
The river basin water cycle council will endeavor to ensure that progress on
the river basin water cycle plan and the state of the water cycle are assessed
at appropriate times and the river basin water cycle plan is revised asnecessary.
River basin water cycle planning/promotion measures
The river basin water cycle plan will be formulated actively by the river basinwater cycle council.
The government, in cooperation with experts and others, will provide support
necessary to advance the formulation of the river basin water cycle plan andcontinual management of its progress, including preparation and updating ofguides identifying basic thinking on establishment of goals for individual
river basins and collections of outstanding case studies that would be
instructional for reference in river basin management, development of watercycle-related information infrastructure and communication of information,enhancement of support contacts, establishment of assessment indicators andmethods to make visible the soundness of the water cycle in the river basin
and the effects of river basin management, holding training and seminars, andawareness-raising and publicity activities. In addition, to advance initiatives
for river basin management, support will be provided through means such asdispatch of advisors on the water cycle to local public agencies and others
involved in formulation of river basin water cycle plans.
The government will support river basin management initiatives fromperspectives such as training of human resources to drive the regional efforts
toward maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle, securing funding
sources and development of structures by river basin water cycle councils andothers, and awareness-raising and publicity activities to encourage exchange
among river basin water cycle councils and participation in river basin
management by experts, businesses, groups, residents, and various otheractors.
Local public agencies will strive to develop the measures necessary to
improve water governance, through means such as formulation of river basinwater cycle plans by river basin water cycle councils and development ofstructures to promote water-cycle-related measures based on these plans.
They also will strive both to give concrete form to measures related tocooperation among related parties such as administrators, experts, businesses,
groups, and residents in the river basin and to deepen related parties'
understanding of economic activities in the river basin. Furthermore, they also
will encourage the participation in river basin management of local businesses,
universities, and other local organizations in the river basin and utilize theknowledge that such organizations possess.
36

2. Proper groundwater preservation and use
In light of the fact that the water cycle circulates as either surface water orgroundwater, continuously promoting the preservation and use of groundwaterrequires protecting regional groundwater and using it as a water resource as well as
efforts to prevent damage to groundwater (such as ground subsidence, salination,
groundwater pollution) and preserve ecosystems, among other aims. In addition,
new movements are now apparent in groundwater use. They include the use ofgroundwater for tourism promotion and specialty products, and the construction of
new factories as the mineral water market expands. In this context, efforts will bemade to manage groundwater in accordance with actual regional conditions in orderto promote appropriate preservation and use of groundwater.
Groundwater management should be provided in collaboration with various
actors, including relevant administrators and other public agencies, universities,
research institutes, companies, non-profit organizations (NPOs), and residents. It ispart of river basin management.
In addition, at present, measures such as restriction of extraction of water are
underway through cooperation between the national government and local publicagencies in the regions of the Nobi Plain, the Chikugo and Saga Plains, and thenorthern Kanto Plain through means such as sharing of observation data by thenational government with related prefectures and municipalities, in accordance withthe guidelines on measures to prevent ground subsidence. As necessary, the national
government, local public agencies, and others will consider use of such wide-area
groundwater management structures and groundwater management methods acrossmultiple local public agencies, through water cycle analysis and other means.
○ To achieve proper groundwater preservation and use, groundwater
management will be promoted systematically in accordance with actual
regional conditions.
○ Groundwater management will be led by local public agencies and other local
stakeholders. They will endeavor to work in collaboration, paying attention
to the relationship between surface water and groundwater. The role of theJapanese government will be to support the autonomous efforts of local publicagencies and other actors in the region.
○ In cooperation with the national government, prefectures will develop theirown structures for promoting groundwater management in line with the actual
regional conditions, support awareness-raising activities to encourage
autonomous and active efforts by municipalities, and promote the efforts instages.
○ To promote proper groundwater preservation and use smoothly amid
diversification of values among members of the public, it is important toensure that study processes and other activities are transparent and fair, andfor this reason, information will be disclosed proactively and the participationof diverse actors including residents will be promoted.
○ Efforts related to ascertaining the facts of groundwater, recharge, raisingawareness, and other matters related to proper groundwater preservation anduse will be advanced in stages in each region in accordance with their degreeof progress, while respecting the regional history and background of
37

○

○

(1)

groundwater preservation and use and existing efforts and structures.
The national government will establish a “groundwater management
promotion platform” with the participation of relevant national government
bodies, public agencies (such as local public agencies that are making
forward-looking efforts), universities, research institutes, companies, NPOs,
and others and provide centralized support by, for example, offering
appropriate advice to local public agencies that are attempting to engage ingroundwater management with the cooperation of stakeholders to solve local
groundwater problems.
Events such as training sessions and seminars will be held regarding laws,
regulations, policies, initiatives, etc., related to groundwater, so that local
public agencies and other local stakeholders that will lead groundwater
management can secure specialized and generalized human resources.
Collection, organization, analysis, announcement, andpreservation of information concerning groundwater
Many faces of groundwater remain unclear, including groundwater basin
structures (topography, geology, etc.), groundwater retention, facts of groundwateruse, impacts of extracting groundwater, behavior related to groundwater volumes,
quality, and temperature, and the relationship between surface water andgroundwater. For this reason, the national government, local public agencies, andothers will cooperate in observation, research, data collection and preservation, andanalysis of these factors, based on the actual regional conditions, while also utilizing
findings from research institutes and other organizations. The national government
will promote research on elucidation of the actual state of the water cycle, including
groundwater.
○ Local public agencies, the national government, and others will endeavor topromote groundwater monitoring, etc., in accordance with actual regional
conditions.
○ To foster a common understanding of the current status and issues of regional
groundwater, the national government will establish and publicize agroundwater database that permits the sharing of data collected and organizedby the national government, local public agencies, and others and promote anenvironment that supports such initiatives as posting groundwater data andusing that data for analysis with meteorological and geological data.
○ Using knowledge obtained through research and development on emergency
groundwater usage systems, the national government will promote efforts toascertain groundwater intake and output; behavior related to groundwater
volume, quality, and temperature; and ground deformation and develop
survey and analysis technologies for this purpose.
○ The national government will support the collection, organization, andanalysis of groundwater data by consolidating knowledge on regional38

groundwater investigation and analysis methods, guidelines, and othermatters into the groundwater management promotion platform.
(2)

Utilization of councils, etc., concerning proper groundwater

preservation and use
The establishment of councils, etc., (referred to in this Plan as "groundwatercouncils") is effective for ascertaining the actual conditions of groundwater for its
proper preservation and use; confirming the direction of initiatives with respect topreservation/use, recharge, and public awareness, etc.; and ensuring coordination
and reconciliation with stakeholders with full consideration for local issues andcircumstances.
○ The national government, local public agencies, and others will endeavor totake necessary measures to improve water governance, including encouraging
the establishment of groundwater councils as necessary, to achieve
coordination and reconciliation among related parties with regard to
groundwater preservation and use.
○ Local public agencies, the national government, and others will promote theestablishment and management of groundwater councils in accordance withactual regional conditions (including establishment of groundwater councils
across multiple prefectures or municipalities in light of the extent of theaquifer and other factors).
○ In addition to local public agencies and local branch offices of national
government agencies, groundwater councils should consist of flexible
organizations including groundwater extractors, groundwater users, parties
strongly affecting or affected by groundwater volumes or quality, parties able
to contribute greatly to groundwater recharge or other aspects of its
preservation, and other diverse related parties, in accordance with actual
regional conditions and the stage of progress of efforts. In addition, as needed,groundwater councils will obtain advice from experts on topics such as
groundwater-related systems and technologies.
○ Groundwater councils shall specify the areas subject to groundwater
management, in light of considerations such as groundwater recharge,
filtration, flows, retention, use, etc., the existing background, issues faced by
the region, and administrative districts. As necessary, matters such as thescope of the impacts of groundwater behavior and extraction will be
ascertained through means such as water-cycle analysis. In addition, attention
will be paid to the fact that cooperation with related administrators and otherpublic agencies, universities, research institutes, companies, NPOs, andothers is effective for research and analysis.
○ As necessary, the local branch offices of national government agencies will
participate proactively in the groundwater councils as well as promote
environmental development and initiatives in cooperation with local public

39

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○

○

○

○

○

(3)

agencies and others as actual regional conditions demand.
While fully reflecting issues and actual conditions in the region, to promote
proper groundwater preservation and use, groundwater councils will ascertain
actual conditions of groundwater and establish basic policies on its
preservation and use, recharge, raising awareness, and other matters. Basedon these efforts, they will carry out in stages awareness-raising to promote
related efforts, monitoring of groundwater, and initiatives based on council
decisions.
It is desirable that groundwater councils be a part of a structure for mutual
coordination among related parties in areas such as urban planning,community development, and land use.
In accordance with actual regional conditions, local public agencies, thenational government, and others will promote efforts based on the decisionsof the groundwater councils (including establishment of ordinances).
The groundwater management promotion platform will be used to support
coordination and reconciliation with stakeholders for the establishment ofgroundwater councils, and to support the establishment of groundwatercouncils by collecting leading cases concerning the establishment andoperation of groundwater councils as well as planning and implementation of
their initiatives. In addition, the national government will enhance guidelines,
etc., based on collected leading cases.
Under policies for comprehensive and integrated management of the river
basin, each groundwater council should strive toward integrated managementwith the river basin water cycle council for the water system. However, since
in some cases, the scope of the river-basin water system or aquifer may extend
broadly, the directions of these two bodies might not coincide in some cases.
For this reason, together with establishing these bodies simultaneously for thetime being, they will operate in cooperation with each other and, whenpossible, attempt integrated management.
With regard to the state of proper groundwater preservation and use andprogress on related measures, groundwater councils shall carry out
assessment at appropriate times and publish the results, as well as revising
basic policies and other matters as necessary.
Restrictions on extraction of groundwater and other necessary

measures
Local public agencies must, in accordance with their actual regional conditions,
restrict the extraction of groundwater and take other necessary measures throughordinances, etc., to the extent that they do not violate laws and regulations, in orderto ensure proper groundwater preservation and use. The national government must
provide and disseminate information on these matters.
○ The national government will endeavor to ascertain and publicize trends in

40

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○

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the enactment of groundwater-related ordinances, etc., by local publicagencies, and it will analyze and organize the purposes and details of suchordinances, etc., to provide support tailored to local issues.
The groundwater management promotion platform will be used to support
initiatives to restrict extraction by, for example, consolidating and publicizing
restrictions on extraction and other examples of necessary measures to ensure
proper groundwater preservation and use through ordinances and othermeasures.
The national government will consolidate and organize information on
groundwater and disseminate and publicize it through websites and othermeans to deepen the public’s understanding and interest in groundwater andto encourage consideration of and cooperation with measures for a soundwater cycle that includes groundwater.
The government will closely monitor international trends related to
groundwater and use useful information as a reference for initiatives by Japan.
It will also promote collaboration with the international community byactively disseminating information on leading initiatives being implemented
by Japan. Additionally, in the interest of furthering international cooperation,
the national government will share knowledge and engage in technicalcooperation that make use Japan’s sciences and technologies pertaining to
global groundwater issues through cooperation with international institutions,bilateral collaboration, and other means.
The national government, local public agencies, and others will move forwardwith research on the use of groundwater and other resources when large-scaledisasters occur, and endeavor to promote such research by, for example,
broadly disseminating examples of initiatives involving emergency disaster
wells, including related issues that must be addressed.
Regarding groundwater pollution caused by nitrate nitrogen and nitrite
nitrogen, the national government will use guidelines, analytical models, andother tools to advance efforts to reduce nitrogen burdens.
The national government will endeavor to support, raise awareness of, andpublicize geothermal heat facilities, and work to spread the use of geothermalheat (use of groundwater heat) that contributes to decarbonization while
giving attention to the prevention of groundwater disturbance.
To promote initiatives for both the preservation and use of groundwater,which have become increasingly diverse in recent years, the national
government will support local efforts by, for example, providing useful
guidelines and related information to local public agencies.

413. Maintenance and improvement of storage and recharge
functions
To maintain or recover a sound water cycle in ways that include groundwater
recharge and storage/retention functions for flood response, efforts to maintain andimprove storage and recharge functions will be promoted throughout the river basin
as a whole, through means such as green infrastructure development to utilize wisely
the diverse functions of the natural environment, in social capital development, landuse, and other areas.
(1)
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Forests and woods
Since in Japan, individual forests often are expected to demonstrate different
combinations of multiple functions, there is a need to advance forest
improvement and preservation to enable sustained demonstration ofmultifaceted functions, including water source recharge, in light of factors
such as the current states of forests, natural conditions, and regional needs.
For the diverse forests across the country, planned and systematic forest
improvement and preservation initiatives will be advanced in accordance withindividual roles through cooperation among the national government,
prefectures, municipalities, forest owners, and others, based on the Forest
Planning System. In addition, based on the Forestry Management Act enacted
in April 2019 (Act No. 35 of 2018), a forestry management system will beadvanced under which management of forests not currently managed
appropriately will be entrusted by forest owners to municipalities and otherauthorities.
In privately owned forests, forest improvements will be advanced throughmeans such as consolidation of forestry business, thinning, and developmentof road networks integrated with thinning, as well as measures such as
thinning and conversion to mixed conifer-broadleaf forest by public actors inforests such as interior water source forests where demonstration of a highdegree of water source recharge functions is needed but the appropriate
development only by owners cannot be expected. In addition, in national
forests, which are distributed widely across inner mountainous areas andwater reservoir areas, the national government itself will promote appropriate
forest improvement and preservation.
To contribute to stable supplies of high-quality water and national landpreservation through maintenance and improvement of water source recharge
functions, forests serving as important water source areas, such as those
upstream from dams, and as rural communities' water sources will be subject
to promotion of systematic designation of protected forests and appropriate
management thereof. In addition, with regard to these protected forests, thoseon land with high water filtration and retention capabilities will be maintained
and improved, forest improvement facilities needed to revive wasteland and
42

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(2)

waste forests will be established, and forest improvements will be advanced
widely and comprehensively.
There is a concern that factors such as advancing depopulation, low birth rates,
and the aging of the population, decreasing profitability of forestry, and labor
shortages will lead to an increase in numbers of forests for which necessary
maintenance and preservation are not conducted. Under such conditions, toenable the sustainable demonstration of the multifaceted functions of forests,
such as water source recharge functions, there is a need to maintain andpreserve forests through forest production activities that enable mountaincommunity residents to live there year long and create stable employment insuch communities. For this reason, through means such as creation of demand
for new lumber materials such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) anddevelopment of stable supply structures for domestic materials to meet
consumer needs, efforts will be made to stimulate mountain communities
through making forestry and the lumber industry, which play important rolesin employment creation in mountain communities, into growth industries andsupporting efforts to secure and train new workers and to utilize mountaincommunities' regional resources.
Rivers etc.

○

In light of the fact that the water cycle involves circulation of surface wateror groundwater chiefly through river basins, efforts will be made to maintainnecessary river flows.

○

Multilayered flood control measures will be promoted as part of river basin
flood control to respond to increased flows into rivers during flooding that are
attributable to urbanization and to flood damage that has been becoming
increasingly frequent and severe in recent years. Examples include theacceleration of measures that send flood water and rainwater safely
downstream through rivers and sewer systems, the securing of river basins’water retention and retarding functions by preserving lowlands and open
levees along rivers, and the securing of river basins’ water storage andretention functions through the development of rainwater storage andinfiltration facilities.

○

Regarding measures to secure river basins’ retention and retarding functions,quantitative assessments of their flood control effects will be carried out incooperation with concerned bodies, and efforts will be made to share thosemeasures with stakeholders in the river basin and promote greater stakeholder

43participation and effective countermeasures.
(3)

Farmland○Farmland, which is the basis of food production, demonstrates functions inareas such as diversion of water from rivers and storage and recharge ofrainwater etc., through continual agricultural production activities. For thisreason, to secure farmland and maintain and improve its production
conditions, as well as carrying out appropriate preservation management of
the irrigation and drainage channels network that takes agricultural waterfrom rivers and other sources to farmland and then returns it to rivers andother sources, and enabling the demonstration of multifaceted functions,
support will be provided for joint activities by local communities with theparticipation of diverse actors including not only farmers but also local
governments, women's associations, NPOs, and other non-farmers andresidents of urban areas.

(4)

Urban areas○

In addition to improving groundwater recharge functions and maintaining
valuable storage and recharge capacity in urban areas, green infrastructure,
which enriches the living environment through places for relaxation while
also helping restrain rising temperatures and beautifying the landscape, will
be promoted through preservation and creation of landscaped areas andgreenification of private and public facilities, with the participation of diverse
actors.

○By promoting appropriate storage and recharge of rainwater, through means
such as encouraging the establishment of rainwater storage and infiltration
facilities by private-sector organizations, efforts will be made to lessen
damage from flooding and create waterside spaces.

44

4. Promoting appropriate and effective water use etc.
(1)Securing stable water supplies and drainage etc.

a. Securing safe, high-quality water○ To ensure that water systems can provide safe, high-quality water at all times,
together with water quality preservation efforts at waterworks water sources,
means such as water safety plans will be used to ascertain and manage risks
at all stages from water sources to taps, as part of comprehensive water quality
management.
○ To ensure the safety of waterworks water, water quality standards will berevised as necessary in light of the latest scientific knowledge from the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the Cabinet Office Food Safety Commission
and results of testing clean water.
○ For purposes of water quality conservation in public waters and groundwater
serving as water sources of waterworks, efforts will be advanced such as
regulation of effluent from factories and workplaces, appropriate wastewater
treatment at wastewater treatment facilities, regulations on soil penetration,and risk management of chemical substances.
○ Measures will be advanced to further reduce odor and taste damage to water
through means such as adoption of advanced water treatment facilities inaccordance with regional conditions such as the water quality of waterworks
water sources.
○ For purposes such as reducing risks of water quality incidents, water supply
systems will be developed that are resistant to the effects of changes in water
sources' water quality, through means such as sourcing water upstream, while
also managing river flows necessary for the river environment and water use
by users of rivers.
○ To respond to unforeseen situations such as water quality incidents,
appropriate human resources will be assigned who are able to make decisions
on steps such as suspending intake of water or suspending supply, appropriate
operating manuals will be distributed, and training will be enhanced, in
addition to strengthening monitoring and communications systems throughcooperation among waterworks businesses, river managers, agencies related
to water quality, and others.
○ Systematic efforts will be promoted to preserve water quality in public waters,
through appropriate division of responsibilities among sewer systems,
agricultural community sewage treatment facilities, and Johkasou,decentralized wastewater treatment system.
○ To secure high-quality agricultural water, development of facilities such as
agricultural water facilities and water purification facilities will be advanced.
○ Forest improvement and preservation will be promoted comprehensively toensure that water source forests demonstrate their water source recharge
functions and store and cultivate safe, high-quality water.
○ To promote appropriate use of rainwater, case studies will be collected andpublished from rainwater-usage facilities, water purification facilities, and45○other facilities developed by the national government, local public agencies,
and private-sector organizations.
Efforts will be made to provide support based on various guidelines, etc., andengage in groundwater management tailored to local conditions in order topromote sustainable groundwater prevention and use that protects regional
groundwater and uses it as a water resource while also preventing damage togroundwater and preserving ecosystems.

b. Responding to critical droughts○ To advance efforts to address critical droughts, the national government, local
public agencies, and others, with consideration for water system and regional
history, background, distinctive properties, and actual conditions, will
cooperate with related parties in preparation of drought timelines (time-series
action plans) describing measures for purposes such as lessening the impacts
and damage of droughts.
○ In preparing and using drought timelines, information and understandings will
be shared through the establishment of a drought management council
consisting of members such as those involved in adjustment of and responding
to water use, those managing water-supply facilities, and those involved inwater distribution activities after receiving water supplies and businessactivities utilizing river water.
○ The national government will assess the safety and drought risk of the watersupply from existing facilities and share drought risk information with local
public agencies, users, businesses, residents, and other actors, to enable
cooperation in responding to droughts.
○ Based on drought risk information and other information, the national
government, local public agencies, and others will, while taking into
consideration matters such as water system and regional history, background,
distinctive properties, and actual conditions as well as anticipated impacts on
and damage to socioeconomic activities, and the lives of members of the
public, consider matters such as dam impoundment and precipitation
conditions, from the perspective of effective utilization of existing water
sources, in studying the possibility of more efficient water supplies throughmeans such as integrated operation of multiple dams.
○ The national government will comprehensively review the water demand andsupply balance, including that during a critical drought, in light of
uncertainties in demand and supply within the water-resource development
system, to formulate a new water-resource development basic plan from arisk-management approach. In this way, new supply goals will be added suchas securing the minimum necessary water to avoid serious impacts on the livesof members of the public and economic activities even in the event of a criticaldrought, to advance in an integrated manner tangible measures and necessary
intangible measures based on a basic strategy of thorough utilization ofexisting facilities.
46

(2)

Responding to disasters

a. Efforts to protect people's lives and property from disasters○ To realize national resilience to help build a safe, secure nation, regions, andeconomic society characterized by strength and flexibility, disaster prevention
and mitigation measures based on appropriate combination of tangibles andintangibles will be advanced further while also striving to secure water
retention and storage capacity.
○ To address the increasing frequency and severity of flood and landslidedisasters in recent years and further increases in precipitation due to the effects
of climate change, flood control measures taken by the national and prefecturalriver managers and sewage system managers will be accelerated, and allparties concerned, including relevant national government bodies, prefectural
governments, municipalities, local businesses and residents, will work
together to promote “river basin flood control” with focus on entire river
basins (e.g., upstream to downstream sections, main rivers, and tributaries).
○ Specifically, to prevent flooding to the maximum degree possible, levees andother river improvement will be further be accelerated, and measures that
include securing retarding functions, making prior releases of water from
irrigation dams, and promoting private-sector rainwater storage will beenhanced and strengthened. In addition, unified tangible and intangible
measures will be implemented in a multilayered manner to reduce damage inthe event of a flood. Those measures will include persuading people to live inlower-risk areas, devising new ways of living, and developing double
embankments and preserving natural levees to reduce the extent of inundation.
They also will include improving flood risk information (such as byeliminating blank areas on flooding forecast area maps and hazard maps anddeveloping “flood risk maps [flooding frequency maps]” that show the
relationship between the extent and frequency of flooding), ensuring effective
evacuation of the elderly, and taking other steps to mitigate damage.
○ Furthermore, flood control plans will be revised to anticipate the effects offuture climate change and flood control measures will be strengthened with aneye to systematically promoting such flood control measures.
○ River basin flood control is part of water cycle policies, and measures such as
rainwater storage and infiltration also contribute to groundwater recharge.
Thus, in promoting the above measures, efforts will be made to achieve
consistency with actions related to river basin management in the interest of
implementing mutually effective measures.
○ In cooperation with the media, the national government and local publicagencies will strive to enhance disaster information and real-time information
to assist in evacuation activities, in normal times as well.
○ Through evaluation and proactive conservation and restoration of ecosystem47

functions that help lessen disaster risk, such as the water-retention functionsof wetlands, Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) will bepromoted, in order both to contribute to biodiversity conservation and torespond with increasingly severe natural disasters as well as issues arisingfrom to structural changes in society such as population decreases and theaging of water infrastructure and other social capital.
○ To help improve regional stability through prevention of soil disasters andmountain disasters arising due to torrential downpours or earthquakes andminimizing their damage, efforts will be made to install erosion control andforest improvement facilities as well as improving forests whose functions
have deteriorated.
○ The increasing mixture of farming and non-farming residents and urbanizationin rural regions is leading to agricultural drainage facilities serving as drainage
facilities for the entire region, and to prevent disasters in the region, thesefacilities will be improved and appropriate operation and preservation
management carried out.
○ To respond to disasters caused by typhoons or heavy rainfall, in addition toefforts to improve the precision of predicting these and to enhancemeasurement structures, efforts such as promotion of improvements to andutilization of disaster weather information to assist residents in evacuating will
be used to strengthen regional disaster resilience.
b. Securing the functions of water supply and drainage systems etc.
during largescale disasters and power failures○ Together with promoting seismic retrofitting, waterproofing, installation ofprivate power generation equipment, and other measures for water
infrastructure to secure the minimum functions of water supply and drainage
systems in cases such as largescale disasters and power failures, in order toenable swift recovery from disaster, the national government, local publicagencies, and others will promote formulation and review of business
continuity plans (BCP) reflecting the lessons from disasters in recent years.
○ To provide technological support for affected local public agencies' efforts toquickly ascertain the state of damage, prevent its spread, and recover affectedareas quickly in the event of a large-scale natural disaster or similar incident,
the structure and functions of the Technical Emergency Control Force (TECFORCE) will be expanded and enhanced.
○ The national government, local public agencies, and others will provide
technological support for recovery of water infrastructure, support
development of mutual aid structures through means such as dispatch of
personnel, implement training, secure and supply emergency aid materials,
and ascertain volumes of water available to use in a disaster.
○ To secure water supply and drainage even in a large-scale disaster affecting abroad area, the national government, local public agencies, and others will
48

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(3)

promote development of water-supply systems and storage facilities inwaterworks facilities to make it possible to send water from other systems,
enhance emergency water supply and other structures, and implement
measures such as mutual supplementation of networks.
Case studies will be collected on solutions such as use of industrial water as
consumer water in large-scale disasters and shared with all industrial waterbusinesses.
Together with promoting temporary use of groundwater in disasters andsimilar cases, the national government, local public agencies, and others shallstrive to promote use of groundwater and other sources in large-scale disasters,
through means such as considering related concepts and responses even in
normal times and identifying necessary measures such as registration of
emergency disaster wells. To advance these efforts by local public agencies,
the national government will advance research and development on
emergency groundwater usage systems and conduct studies toward
implementation of the results in society through means such as preparation ofmanuals.
The national government will formulate new basic water-resource
development plans based on risk management for the water-resource
development water system. In this way, together with securing the minimum
water necessary for the lives of the public and economic activities even aftera large-scale natural disaster such as an earthquake, new supply goals will be
added under the basic water-resource development plans such as minimizing
damage to facilities and achieving swift recovery, and in an integrated manner
tangible measures and necessary intangibles will be promoted based on thebasic strategy of thorough utilization of existing facilities.
Strategic maintenance, management, and updating of water

○

○

○

infrastructure
After formulating a plan for extending life of infrastructure (action plan)
based on the basic plan for extending life of infrastructure established by thenational government, local public agencies, and others will formulate plansfor extending the lifespans of individual facilities (individual facility plans)
covering matters such as thinking on prioritization of measures, the state ofwater infrastructure, the content and timing of measures, and the costs ofmeasures. They will strive to advance measures based on these plans.
Through risk management by means such as monitoring and diagnosis offacility functions and development and use of an information infrastructure,
the national government, local public agencies, and others will strive to carryout strategic maintenance, management, and upgrading (anti-aging measures)for facilities.
In doing so, after securing necessary investment related to safety and peaceof mind, they will support measures to reduce total costs through means such
49

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(4)

as medium- to long-term maintenance, management, and upgrading, to levelout budgeting, and to realize sound business administration. They will carryout research and development, testing, and adoption of new technologies tocontribute to extending life spans.
To advance these measures steadily, technological support will be provided
through means such as preparation of standards, guidelines, and manuals
suited to the distinctive properties for each project and enhancing training andlessons.
To strengthen the project infrastructure of waterworks, sewer systems, andindustrial water projects, it is essential to carry out facility development andproject operation in accordance with the conditions of the region, taking into
consideration matters such as future population. For this reason, as necessary,
together with measures such as facility consolidation and downsizing,
resurrecting of facilities through adopting wider-area management,
management integration and cooperation, and rationalization, at the sametime as updating etc., public-private partnerships will be supported to utilize
the management expertise, funding abilities, and technological capabilities ofthe private sector.
With regard to the roles and conditions of agricultural water facilities,
including their public nature, together with sharing of information withrelated parties, through appropriate preservation management of farmland
canals and other facilities, in order to promote demonstration of themultifaceted functions of agricultural water, joint activities in areas such as
maintenance and repair by the community with the participation of diverse
human resources will be promoted.
For the purposes of strategic maintenance, management, upgrading, etc., ofriver management facilities and sewer system facilities, development,
application, etc., of inspection and diagnostics technologies using newtechnologies such as next-generation infrastructure robotics will be promoted.
Cooperation will be promoted among managers of interrelated water
infrastructure, through means such as proactive sharing of information.
To minimize as much as possible the volume of water lost through leaks inwaterworks pipes, periodic pipe investigation and countermeasures to prevent
leaking will be carried out in addition to systematic updating of aged pipes.
Efficient and effective use of watera. Rationalization of water use○ Based on the understanding that water is a valuable asset shared by membersof the public, conversion of water uses within and between uses such as
consumer water, industrial water, and agricultural water will be promoted inaccordance with the regional needs and actual conditions, through50

○encouraging mutual understanding among related parties by sharing
information on water use and on rivers, such as current flows, to reflectchanging socioeconomic conditions and the regional distinctive properties.
To make agriculture more competitive, measures will be advanced such as
conversion of canals to pipelines, installation of facilities to regulate wateruse, consolidation and closure of water supply access points, and adoption of
ICT to improve agricultural water facilities, with the goals of further laborsavings in management and advances in use as well as appropriate allocationof agricultural water.

b. Promoting use of rainwater and reclaimed water(Rainwater use)
○ Pursuant to the Act on the Promotion of Rainwater Utilization (Act No. 17 of2014), intended to put water resources to more effective use and restrict flow
to sewer systems, rivers, etc., use of rainwater will be promoted throughinstallation of facilities for rainwater use when constructing buildings and useof rainwater in sewer system facilities. In addition, awareness of rainwater use
will be raised through publicity activities and other measures.
○ Based on the policies they themselves have established for point of rainwateruse, the national government and local public agencies will study uses suchas water for flushing toilets in emergencies and firefighting water to promote
rainwater use in disasters.
○ Research will be conducted and published on standards for rainwater-usage
facilities (e.g., storage tanks) and assessment of them.
(Use of reclaimed water)○ Further technological development and results will be achieved fromperspectives such as water volumes, water quality, ecosystems, urban
landscapes, and energy conservation to enable use of reclaimed water for
diverse purposes, and such use will be promoted systematically in accordancewith regional conditions.
○ Progress will be made in areas such as development of facilities for
emergency use of reclaimed water as sewage treatment water during droughts
and other emergencies.
○ To promote use of reclaimed water, use of more advanced membrane
treatment and other water treatment technologies, appropriate water quality
monitoring technologies, etc. will be advanced.
○ Agriculture use of reclaimed water will be promoted through appropriate
treatment of raw sewage, miscellaneous consumer drain water, and othersewage at facilities such as agricultural community sewage treatment facilities.

51

c. Water conservation○ To promote further water conservation, case studies on advanced water
conservation in Japan and overseas will be identified, improvements and useof water conservation technologies and other technologies will be advanced
through industry-academy- government cooperation led by the private sector,
adoption of water conservation equipment, facilities, etc., will be promoted,
necessary information and technological advice will be provided for droughts,
and awareness-raising and other activities will be conducted to foster anawareness among members of the public of the need to use water wisely.
(5)
Water environment(Efforts to secure water volumes and water quality)○ In individual river basins, the national government and local public agencies,
with consideration for water system and regional history, backgrounds, andactual conditions, as well as deliberations in river basin water cycle councils
and other bodies, will study ways to secure appropriate water volumes andwater quality for each river basin from perspectives including those of timeand space, and related parties in the river basin will promote related measures
as necessary.
○ Through cooperation among river managers, related local public agencies,
and others, efforts will be made to secure water volumes and water quality
from the perspective of appropriate management of rivers environments,
based on materials such as plans for management and measurement of water
volumes and water quality of rivers.
(Environmental quality standards, drainage regulation, etc.)○ Environmental quality standards related to water pollution in public
waters and groundwater will be revised as necessary based on scientificknowledge and other considerations. In addition, efforts will be made toaccumulate information on the status of detection of items Monitored
substance and Investigated item related to water quality in public-waterand groundwater.
○ Progress will be made on specifying types of bottom-layer dissolved oxygen
content, which has been added to environmental quality standards, and thesewill be used to enhance water quality conservation measures in areas such as
lakes and marshes and closed coastal seas.
○ Reviews and additions necessary to maintain and achieve environmental
standards for regulations on drainage from factories and business sites will be
made, taking into account the fact that environmental standards have beenrevised from coliform group counts to coliform counts.
(Reducing pollution burdens etc.)

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To realize sustainable sewage treatment systems, systematic measures toaddress consumer drainage will be promoted through appropriate division of
responsibilities based on prefectural visions, in which effective maintenanceand management methods are chosen based on comprehensive considerationof matters such as the distinctive properties and economic potential of sewer
systems, agricultural community sewage treatment facilities, and Johkasou,decentralized wastewater treatment systems.
Measures will be advanced to reduce the pollution burden of combined
sewerage to levels similar to those of separate sewerage. In addition, theimpact on water use in waters where discharge is released will be ascertained
and countermeasures advanced as necessary.
Conversion from old type decentralized wastewater treatment system called“imitation Johkasou” whose performance is low with treating the black water
only to current Johkasou will be promoted further through measures such as
assistance with the costs of such conversion using the measures and budgets
established under the Act on Partial Amendment of the Johkasou Act (Act No.
40 of 2019), enacted in April 2020.
To reduce pollution burdens from surface sources such as farming andlivestock, appropriate fertilization and appropriate management of livestock
wastes will be promoted.
Regarding wide-area groundwater pollution caused by nitrate nitrogen andnitrite nitrogen, means such as guidelines and analytical models will be used
to ascertain current conditions and make issues clear, in order to build
consensus among related parties in the region and advance efforts to reduce
nitrogen burdens.
Research will be carried out on the distribution of microplastics in rivers,
lakes and marshes, and other bodies of water.

(Purification, dredging, etc.)○ Water quality improvements will be advanced through cooperation among
related agencies in rivers, lakes and marshes, canals, etc. where water
environmental degradation is severe, to reduce pollution burdens from land,
dredging, and diversion.
○ In rural communities where there is a need to remediate drain water
purification in public waters or prevent and restrain soil loss, efforts will beadvanced such as use of the natural purifying functions of farmland and water
plants to improve canal networks, installation of sedimentation basins, andrestraining slopes on farmland.
(Water environmental improvements in lakes and marshes, closed coastal seas, etc.)○ To improve water quality in lakes and marshes, closed coastal seas, and otherbodies of water, measures will be advanced such as partial modification ofexisting sewer system facilities, adoption of advanced treatment methods

53

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○

including advance treatment in stages through changes to management
methods, and promotion of advanced treatment Johkasou. In addition, toadvance effort targeting pollution from surface sources, more effective water
quality improvement measures will be studied through cooperation among
related actors and regions.
At sewage treatment facilities, studies and adaptation measures will beadvanced with regard to drain water management in waters that need them.
When using water from lakes and marshes for purposes such as irrigation of
wet fields, in order to preserve water quality progress will be made in areas
such as development of water quality preservation facilities including cyclical
irrigation facilities and plant purification zones.
In closed coastal seas, while ascertaining the pollution burdens from the land
and the state of water quality in the sea, together with advances in restrictions
on factory and business site drainage and efforts based on the water quantity
total emission reduction system, comprehensive water environment
improvement measures will be advanced.

(Technological development, promotion, etc.)○ Advanced environmental technologies thought to be effective for purposessuch as water purification in lakes and marshes and closed coastal seas will
be promoted in line with their effects, economic potential, etc.
○ For purposes such as environmental preservation in rivers downstream fromdams, water from flexible management of dams with flood-control capacity
will be used to flush out sludge sedimentation and algae from rivers and in
medium-scale flushing affecting the forms of rivers (e.g., rapids and pools).
In addition, as necessary, efforts will be promoted to supplement
sedimentation upstream from dams downstream.
○ Technological development and promotion will be carried out in areas suchas highly efficient and effective water treatment technologies.
(Regional activities etc.)○

Support will be provided for joint activities to preserve the water environment
such as landscaping and biotope development in canals and holding pondswith the participation of diverse members of local communities.

(6)

Water cycle and ecosystems(Research)○ For effective and efficient implementation of various measures related toecosystem preservation and recovery in connection with the water cycle,
natural environmental surveys of matters such as plant and animal
distributions will be conducted and monitored on a continual basis across54

wide areas. In addition, to ascertain basic information on the water-related
natural environment, periodic and continuous surveys of information such as
habitats and growth of living creatures in rivers, lakes and marshes, coastal
areas, etc. will be conducted using data such as the National Survey on the
Natural Environment, the National Census on River Environment, and the
National Aquatic Survey.
(Data enhancement)○ Together with systematically advancing collection, provision, etc. of survey
data with the cooperation of various actors, monitoring in which residents
participate will be enhanced and information will be shared throughenhancement of networks including universities, the national government andlocal public agencies, private-sector research institutes, museums, and otherinstitutions, to enhance the natural environmental data available for use.
(Ecosystem preservation etc.)○ Wetlands, which are important habitats for migratory water birds, will beconserved through building and maintenance of wetland networks anddesignation as Wildlife Protection Areas, among other means.
○ “Wetlands important from the perspective of biodiversity conservation,”
which are identified as particularly important to biodiversity, will be given
special consideration in conservation.
○ The habitats and growing and breeding environments of living creatures anddiverse river landscapes will be preserved and created through rivermanagement to create nature-oriented river works, with consideration for thenatural blessings of rivers as a whole and harmony with the local lifestyle,history, and culture.
○ Ecosystem functions that help lessen disaster risk, such as water-retentionfunctions of wetlands, will be evaluated and proactively conserved andrestored, to promote Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR).
This will contribute to biodiversity conservation in addition to responding toissues arising from structural changes in society, such as population decreases,
and aging of water infrastructure and other social capital as well as
increasingly severe natural disasters.
○ Ecosystem preservation and rehabilitation will be advanced through efforts
such as wetland rehabilitation and development of fish channels, conducted
through means such as natural rehabilitation projects in rivers, lakes andmarshes, etc. Together with implementing such initiatives, ecosystem
networks will be formed in coordination with river-basin measures by diverse
actors in the region and contribute to biodiversity preservation and regional
development and economic vitalization.
○ Farmland and agricultural water facilities not only serve as infrastructure for
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food production but also play important roles as habitats and growing andbreeding environments for living creatures. For this reason, to preserve andrecover ecosystem networks in rural communities, improvement of theenvironment for fish swimming upstream and downstream and improvementof canals with consideration for preservation of the habitats and growing andbreeding environments of fish and other aquatic creatures will be advanced
by installing and improving fish channels at pump facilities in rivers, lakes,
and marshes and securing continuity of wet fields and canals.
Preservation methods for freshwater fish will be considered while utilizing
new technologies, as examples of using ecosystem networks that include not
only rivers, lakes and marshes, wetlands, and springs but also accumulated
artificial bodies of water such as wet fields, holding ponds, and canals topreserve rare fish.
Together with restrictions on their raising and release, designated invasive
alien species under the Act on the Prevention of Adverse Ecological Impacts
Caused by Designated Invasive Alien Species (Act No. 78 of 2004) will be
removed from bodies of water such as rivers, lakes and marshes, and holding
ponds in accordance with their priorities. In addition, with regard to invasive
alien species in general, including those other than designated invasive alien
species, efforts will be promoted to raise awareness of the Three Principles
for Preventing damages caused by the Invasive Alien Speciess to prevent theirinvasion and spread.
Of the designated areas such as natural parks and natural conservation areas,
natural mountain areas play an important role in water cycle and will beprotected and managed.
Based on basic nature restoration policies under the Act for the Promotion of
Nature Restoration (Act No. 148 of 2002), nature restoration efforts will bepromoted to restore natural environments lost in the past in areas such as
rivers, lakes and marshes, wetlands, and tidal wetlands, in cooperation withdiverse actors from the region.

(Support for activities)○ Cooperation bodies for river management and other organizations will bepromoted to support private-sector organizations' activities to preserve river
basin ecosystems.
○ Together with supporting ecosystems management conducted throughcooperation among regions, linking with ecosystems in the river basin as awhole and ecosystem services built up in the water cycle, with considerationof balancing elements of ecosystem services, activities to raise publicawareness will be carried out in order to realize communities in coexistencewith nature, supported by these ecosystem services.
○ Together with preservation management in farmland and agricultural
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drainage canal, active ecosystem preservation and recovery activities will besupported with the participation of diverse human resources in the community.
(7)
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(8)
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Water environment preservation, rehabilitation, and creation
In light of the distinctive natural, cultural, historical, and other properties ofrivers, municipalities, private-sector businesses, river managers, and others
will cooperate to promote riverside and town vitalization aiming to use
waterside areas to vitalize communities. Awards will be provided toexemplary initiatives as well. In addition, the Waterfront School Project will
be promoted through environmental learning and hands-on nature activities
to enable children to get close to the waterside in safety, through cooperation
with municipalities, river managers, and others.
Since a perspective based on the units of river basins including recharge areas
is important to preservation of water springs, together with surveying theactual state of spring water and publicizing the findings, measures such as
promotion of guidelines on spring water preservation and recovery will be
used to support community efforts.
To secure attractive waterside spaces such as moats, ponds, and marshes inurban areas and elsewhere, together with water-quality improvement efforts
through means such as countering blue-green algae in the summer anddiversion, promotion of effective technologies will be advanced.
Progress will be made in preservation of waterside environment in ruralcommunities through means such as development of agricultural canals andholding ponds with consideration for friendly access to water andpreservation of the scenery. In addition, various technological materials will
be prepared for this purpose, and support will be provided through provisionof technological information.
To promote activities utilizing waterside spaces, hands-on tourism activities
and other initiatives will be promoted in regions such as the upstream areasof rivers.
Waterside spaces will be rehabilitated and created through means such as
diversion into rivers and canals using reclaimed water and effluent waterfrom Johkasou.
Passing along, rehabilitation, and creation of water culture
Opportunities such as Water Week will be used to promote diverse upstream
and downstream cooperation, together with communication of information
about water culture, in order to pass along diverse water culture in the river
basin and vitalize the community that serves as the basis for such activities.
To pass along, rehabilitate, and create water culture, a water community
support project will be carried out to uncover attractive local specialties andtourism resources in the water reservoir areas etc. and promote them, incooperation with the tourism industry.
Activities such as water reservoir area development projects pursuant to the
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(9)

Act on Special Measures Concerning the Reservoir Areas Development (ActNo. 118 of 1973) will be carried out, to develop the living environment,
industrial infrastructure, etc. for residents who are engaged in water culturein the region.
To pass along water culture such as the feats of ancestors who dug agricultural
canals, the activities supported by canals, and festivals held to pray for a good
harvest or safety in water passing work year long, support will be provided
for activities such as communication of information through websites andholding gatherings in which tellers and people talk about their experiences inregional history.
Responding to global warminga. Adaptation measures○ The national government and government agencies will cooperate to advancemeasures related to adaptation to climate change in various fields related to
the water cycle, based on climate change adaptation plans.
○ Based on results of assessment of the impact of global warming and otherforms of climate change, adaptation measures will be promoted such as
responses to water-related disaster risk and to impacts on water quality andecosystems.
○ To cope with the increased frequency and severity of floods and soil disasters
in recent years, such as an increase in the number of short-duration torrential
rainfall events and larger typhoons, and further increases in precipitation due
to climate change, flood control plans will be revised to anticipate the effects
of future climate change, and all related parties will cooperate in promoting ashift to river basin flood control and strengthening flood control measures.
○ Local public agencies will similarly make efforts to incorporate theperspective of climate change adaptation into their water cycle policies
through coordination and cooperation among their relevant departments.
○ In light of the fact that changes in water quality and other factors are expected
to result from climate change, together with continuing research on
monitoring and forecasting water quality, water quality conservation
measures will be promoted.
b. Mitigation measures○ To promote the introduction of renewable energy with consideration to themaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle, the national government will,through cooperation and collaboration among relevant government agencies,
promote measures based on numerical targets and roadmaps to advance theintroduction of renewable energy related to the water cycle and also promoteenergy conservation measures based on the Plan for Global Warming
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Countermeasures and other plans.
(Forests and woods)○

In light of the fact that the forests serving as foundations of Japan's water
cycle play important roles in countering global warming by absorbing
greenhouse gases, their improvement and preservation will be advanced.

(Hydroelectric power)○ Hydroelectric power is highly stable and serves as an important low-carbon
domestic energy source. To encourage its proactive adoption, in addition to
the large-scale hydroelectric power development that has advanced to aconsiderable degree until now, its effective use will be promoted incooperation with related parties at existing dams and other facilities, forexample through installation of generation equipment at dams not currently
used for power generation and improvement of dam operation.
○ To promote small-scale hydroelectric power using river flows, agricultural
water, waterworks water, sewage, etc., water use procedures will be madeeasier; support will be provided for related studies and designs; and research,development, and other actions will be undertaken to reduce the costs of
installation and operation.
(Water-based solar power generation)○

Studies of the installation potential of water-based solar power generation at
holding ponds and dam reservoirs and other relevant actions will be promoted.

(Global warming countermeasures in processes such as water treatment and water
conveyance)○

Through means such as development and promotion of new technologies,
efforts will be carried out to encourage use of energy-conservation measuresin sewage treatment, such as water treatment that consumes less energy, anduse of rainwater and reclaimed water, as well as putting to effective use
renewable energy such as sewage sludge and sewage heat, through means
including biomass and biogas power generation from sewage sludge and area59

heating and air-conditioning using sewage heat, and thereby suppress
emission of greenhouse gases. In addition, renewable use of sewage sludge
as fertilizer, which is expected to help restrain CO2 emissions from transportof materials, will be promoted.
○

To cut energy consumption in transporting water, equipment will be adopted
at waterworks facilities to conserve energy and use renewable energy, andefforts to use potential energy will be promoted through means such assourcing water upstream.

○

In addition to promoting effective use of renewable energy at agricultural
water facilities, efforts will be made to return treatment water emitted fromagricultural community sewage treatment facilities to the farmland throughreclamation as agricultural water and use of sludge in fertilizer, and energyconservation technologies will be developed and tested and then adopted.

○

To reduce energy used in Johkasou, efforts will be made to promote use of
low-carbon type Johkasou and further carbon savings throughout Johkasou
systems.

○

Support will be provided for the installation, etc., of equipment related to theintroduction of geothermal heat; efforts will be made to raise awareness ofand publicize geothermal heat (such as by presenting the energy-saving
effects of geothermal heat use and examples of new advanced technologies);
and work will be undertaken to spread the use of geothermal heat (use ofgroundwater heat) that contributes to decarbonization with attention to theprevention of groundwater disturbance.

○

The use of snow cold energy that utilizes snow and ice in heavy snowfall areas
as a local resource will be promoted in accordance with the Basic Plan for
Areas of Heavy Snow (approved by the Cabinet on December 7, 2012) basedon the Act on Special Measures concerning Countermeasures for Areas of
Heavy Snow (Act No. 73 of 1962).

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5. Promoting education concerning a sound water cycle etc.
(1)
Promoting education on the water cycle(Promotion in school education)○ Education on the water cycle will be promoted in elementary schools, lower
secondary schools and upper secondary schools based on the National
Curriculum Standards, giving consideration to the developmental stages of thestudents to increase understanding of sound water cycle.
○ As educational tools, materials will be prepared and updated in accordancewith the regional distinctive properties, including collections of case studies
and manuals on practical education about the water cycle and supplemental
materials related to the water cycle that can be used in school education.
Efforts will be made to develop an environment in which those in the field inschool education can carry out active and continual efforts in this area.
(Promotion of education through cooperation)○ From the perspective of developing comprehensive support structure forwater cycle education, organic cooperation will be promoted with parties
related to school education, water infrastructure managers, various groups
involved in activities in venues for learning about the water cycle, and others,
and reference case studies will be published broadly.
○ Systems will be developed under which specialists in various fields such as
meteorology, forestry, rivers, agriculture, urban areas, waterworks, sewer
systems, the environment, groundwater, rainwater management, living
creatures, and chemistry participate in promotion of education on a soundwater cycle.
○ Active educational activities by the community and the private sector will be
carried out, based on scientific knowledge of the water cycle.
○ Through means such as implementation of environmental education programs
incorporating the perspective of education on sustainable development (ESD),
understanding of a sound water cycle to aid in achieving sustainable
development will be promoted along with cooperation among diverse actors
in the region.
(Promotion of education through on-site experience)○ To deepen the understanding and involvement of members of the publicregarding multifaceted functions of forests and farmland such as water source
recharge, preservation of the national land infrastructure, and prevention of
global warming, as well as necessary development for achievement of thefunctions, water cycle education will be advanced through opportunities forhands-on activities in forests and farmland by young people and others andinstructor training, among other activities.
○ Through means such as on-site tours of river improvement projects andirrigation projects as well as visiting lectures, education on a sound water61

cycle and activities to deepen understanding of it will be advanced.
(2)

Promoting awareness raising activities related to water cycle(Promotion of events related to Water Day and Water Week)○

To deepen understanding of the importance of and interest in a sound water
cycle broadly among members of the public, and to increase theirunderstanding of these subjects, the national government will collect, andpublicize via a website, information on awareness-raising and publicity
activities by various actors in connection with Water Day and Water Week
events as well as information on Water Day and Water Week events held by
the national government, local public agencies, and others. In addition, todeepen understanding of and interest in the history and culture related to waterand people in the region, among the public broadly, from young to old, efforts
such as awareness-raising and educational activities on the close ties between
everyday living and water use will be used to encourage public participationin events and advance projects suited to Water Day and Water Week.

(Strategic communication of information etc.)○

Together with proactive and strategic activities to raise awareness ofmaintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle, the national government andlocal public agencies also will proactively support the activities of nonprofits
and other groups. Specific efforts will include systematic promotion ofawards for individuals and groups that have made outstanding contributions
to promotion of awareness-raising activities and scientific research or otheractivities in areas such as promotion of water reservoir areas, communicationof information via the media and the Internet, use of indicators that are easy
to understand or that make it possible to assess water cycle soundness
comprehensively, creating systems to incentivize related parties working
toward a sound water cycle, activities to raise awareness through other events,
competitions, lectures, etc., and activities in which residents can participate
on the theme of water.

○

Through collection, organization, and communication of understandable
information on subjects such as activities to raise awareness of maintenance62

or recovery of a sound water cycle, the national government and local publicagencies will carry out continual efforts in cooperation with diverse actors.
○

The government will collect information on water-cycle efforts of various
actors from the perspective of achievement of the SDGs and publicize suchinformation using a website.

○

To deepen understanding of the water environment behind a sound water
cycle and promote opportunities for appropriate preservation and utilization,
awards will be presented to outstanding water environment, such as the
Selection of 100 Japan Waters, the selected 100 canals of Japan, and 100
famous water source forests, and related information will be communicateddomestically and internationally.

(Support for awareness raising activities by private-sector businesses and others)○ Through government-wide initiatives to promote active, autonomous, andproactive activities by private-sector actors related to maintenance orrecovery of a sound water cycle, using a shared logo and website, a broad
range of efforts will be promoted nationwide by deepening public
understanding and interest in a broad sense and creating opportunities for
coordination and cooperation among divers actors including members of the
public.
(International communication of information)○ Information will be communicated through multilingual communication,international conferences, and other means to raise awareness broadly aroundthe world of water safety in Japan, beautiful scenery involving water, andwater-cycle-related systems.

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6. Measures to promote autonomous activities by privateorganizations and others(Support for cooperative activities etc.)○ To deepen public understanding of and interest in a sound water cycle,
cooperative activities such as water environment surveys and awarenessraising activities by private-sector organizations will be promoted.
○ To encourage the demonstration of multifaceted functions of agriculture andrural communities in areas such as maintenance of a sound water cycle, basedon the Act on the Promotion of the Fulfillment of Multifunctionality ofAgriculture (Act No. 78 of 2014), support will be provided for joint
community activities, with participation of diverse human resources in thecommunity, to manage preservation of community resources such as farmland
and canals.
○ To demonstrate the multifaceted functions of forests, such as water source
recharge, support will be provided for activities by residents in rural,
mountainous, forested, and other areas in consideration of scenic
improvement.
○ To deepen interest in the ties between water sources and nearby forests andthe sea, and in society and culture in water reservoir areas, support will be
provided for cooperative activities to deepen exchange between upstream anddownstream areas in river basin.
(Use of human-resources development and groups support activities)○ Through human-resources development programs and the registration system
under human-resources certification programs based on the Act on the
Promotion of Environmental Conservation Activities through Environmental
Education (Act No. 130 of 2003), members of the public will be made awareof training programs and qualification testing for positions such as forest
instructors, who guide hands-on activities in forests.
○ Through the system of cooperation bodies for river management, intended for
private-sector organizations engaging in autonomous activities in areas suchas rivers environmental preservation, efforts conducted through cooperation
between river managers and private-sector organizations will be promoted.
○ To broaden rainwater use throughout society, means such as preparation ofcollections of case studies on rainwater use and communication of
information on rainwater use will be used to support promotion of technician
training and qualifications programs conducted by private-sector
organizations.

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(Awards)○ Continual efforts by local public agencies and private-sector organizations
across Japan will be promoted through presenting awards to individuals andgroups who have made particular contributions in areas such as development
and use of water resources and recharge of water sources.
○ Efforts will be promoted to increase the motivation of related parties and theirinternational presence through means such as awards to schools, businesses,
local public agencies, the private sector, and research institutes across Japanin order to encourage activities related to water environmental preservation.
(Regional vitalization)○ Together with building networks for purposes such as collecting and sharing
information on vitalization activities for parties active in are vitalization
activities and developing new such parties, based on sympathy with andgratitude to the people in water reservoir areas, support will be provided forestablishment and operation of river basin coordination organizations
upstream, downstream, and in other river basins, through dispatch of advisors
and other means, and stimulation of regional industry will be conducted
through means such as communication of information on local products,
among other efforts, in order to promote activities to increase vitality in water
reservoir areas on a continual basis.
(Communication of information)○ To foster awareness that activities contributing to maintenance or recovery ofa sound water cycle increase value to private-sector organizations etc.,
information will be communicated on subjects such as case studies on
advanced efforts by private-sector organizations, to promote active,
autonomous, proactive activities by private-sector organizations.
○ Active efforts by local public agencies and private-sector organizations will
be promoted through providing information on various planned water-related
events across Japan in advance.
○ Also in the green-infrastructure public-private partnership platform forsharing each knowledge and technologies, in which a wide range of diverse
actors such as the national government, local public agencies, private-sectorbusinesses, universities, and research institutes take part in order to help green
infrastructure permeate throughout society, information on topics such asefforts to maintain and improve rainwater storage and recharge functions will
be communicated proactively.

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7. Conducting research necessary to formulate and implement
water cycle policies(1)
Survey of current conditions of river basin water cycle(Surveys of water volumes and water quality)○ The national government, local public agencies, and others will conduct
surveys of precipitation in river basins, river water levels, flows, and water
quality as well as levels, water quality, and other properties of public waters
and groundwater, while enhancing survey and observation structures andadopting new technologies as necessary, to collect and analyze relevant data.
○ As basic references for effective measures to counter water pollution in public
waters, trends will be ascertained in subjects such as volumes of flows ofwater pollutants from factories and business sites.
○ The actual state of use of agricultural water will be ascertained in order tosecure the agricultural water needed in terms of both water volumes and water
quality.
(Water resource surveying)○ Surveys will be conducted periodically and continuously to ascertain matterssuch as reserves of water resources, volumes of water use nationwide bypurpose, drought conditions, and social conditions related to water resources.
(Surveying of living creatures)○ To ascertain basic information on the water-related natural environment,
periodic and continual surveys of information such as habitats and growth ofliving creatures in rivers, lakes and marshes, coastal areas, etc. will be
conducted using data such as the National Survey on the Natural Environment,
the National Census on River Environment, and the National Aquatic Survey.
(Groundwater)○ The national government and prefectures (and municipalities as necessary)
will strive to carry out continual collection and organization of information
depending on actual regional conditions, with consideration for matters suchas the structures of groundwater basins (e.g., terrain, geology), actual statesof groundwater use (e.g., purposes of use, extraction volumes, and extraction
methods for consumer water, industrial water, agricultural water, etc.),
groundwater levels, groundwater quality, groundwater temperature, grounddeformation, time-series and spatially distributed data on flows and othersubjects, actual conditions of land use, state of spring preservation, and otherinformation as well as improving the utilization efficiency of existing
facilities. In addition, the national government will develop and make widely
available a groundwater database to enable mutual use of data on subjects
such as groundwater levels, groundwater quality, extraction volumes, and66

related measurement points, collected and organized by the national
government, local public agencies, and others.
(Use of rainwater and reclaimed water)○ Together with continual fact-finding surveys on subjects such as purposes ofuse, volumes used, and water-collection surface areas at rainwater-usage
facilities, other surveys such as those of volumes stored and rainwater usage
rates will be conducted, as necessary to ascertain the impacts of its use on
effective use of water resources and restraining concentrated outflows ofrainwater.
○ Fact-finding surveys will be conducted on subjects such as purposes of use,
volumes used, and water quality at reclaimed-water-usage facilities.
(Publication and effective utilization of results of surveys)○ The national government, local public agencies, and others will endeavor to
publish data obtained in surveys and related activities, along with results ofanalysis. In doing so, they will strive to enable effective use of data throughuse of open-data formats, to make the data easy to understand and to use.
(2)
○

○

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Survey of the impacts of climate change on the water cycle andadaptation thereto
Regarding the impact of climate change on floods and droughts andaccompanying changes in water-related disaster risk and impacts on the water
cycle system in normal times, surveys and analysis utilizing scientificknowledge, including medium- to long-term precipitation forecasts, will be
conducted.
Surveys and analysis will be conducted on changes to agriculture structuresand farm management as well as the impacts of climate change and otherfactors on agricultural water facilities and adaptation measures for suchimpacts.
Structural improvements will be promoted for surveys and observations toconfirm from time to time the effects of forest improvement and preservation
based on factors such as changes in precipitation and snow melt, to help
realize flexible management reflecting the uncertainties of forecasts related
to climate change and forest ecosystems.
Information will be provided on subjects such as weather and forecasts ofglobal warming, to contribute to appropriate management of water resources
through means such as responding to droughts. In addition, efforts will bepromoted to increase the forecasting precision of such information and utilize
it.

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8. Promotion of science and technology(Study and research on river basin water cycle)○ Based on the latest science and technology and past research, studies andresearch will be advanced on topics such as methods of assessing thesoundness of the water cycle, through cooperation with related research
institutes, academic societies, and others.
○ Water cycle monitoring will be promoted in forest communities and theirvicinities, for use in research and development on qualitative and quantitative
methods of forecasting the impacts of forest change and future factors suchas climate change on supplies of water resources to farmland and other users.
○ Studies and research will be advanced on health risk assessment to ensure
safe, high-quality water.
(Study and research on groundwater)○ A three-dimensional water cycle model that integrates surface water andgroundwater based on weather, topography, geology, surface cover, wateruse, water quality, and other factors; forest area water source recharge
assessment model; land subsidence analysis model; and survey andobservation techniques will be developed, and research and development
utilizing those models and techniques will be conducted on emergency
groundwater usage systems.
○ Research and development will be promoted on qualitative and quantitative
methods of measuring the impacts of changes in forests and future climatechange on volumes of water flowing from forest river basins in droughts.
(Study and research on rainwater)○ To contribute to effective use of water resources and restraining flows to
sewer systems, rivers, etc., support will be provided for autonomous researchby private-sector organizations on use of rainwater for diverse purposes. In
addition, case studies will be collected and published on further technologicaldevelopment on water quality improvements, use of AI and IoT, and othertopics and on effective methods of utilizing these.
○ Efforts will be promoted to collect a wide range of case studies on subjects
such as methods and effects of rainwater use and to analyze and publish these.
(Science and technology related to subjects such as effective use of water)○ To promote the maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle, measures
such as research and development intended to solve social issues will bepromoted, aiming to realize the ultra-smart society envisioned by the Society
5.0 concept, in areas such as water infrastructure maintenance management,

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disaster prevention and mitigation, agriculture, and groundwater preservation.
Studies and research will be promoted on increasing the efficiency of use ofwaterworks water and making usage visible.
Development of design support systems for estimating capacities ofregulating facilities, to enable flexible allocation of agricultural water, will bepromoted.
Development of tools for assessment and indication of functions for efficienttransport and distribution of water that take into account the state ofmanagement of agricultural water facilities as a whole and related watertransport management technologies will be promoted.
Support will be provided for development of technologies such as low-costwater treatment technologies with high performance, further advancement of
membrane treatment technologies and others.
To promote rainwater use, studies and research will be promoted ontechnologies in areas such as water quality preservation, control of outflows,
and maintenance and management, and on standards and other matters related
to facilities for rainwater use.

(Science and technology related to the water environment)○ Technological development will be advanced to monitor the water quality ofagricultural water and preserve the water environment.
○ Research and development will be promoted on the impacts of climate change
and forestry on forests' water environments to ensure that forests can better
demonstrate their water source recharge functions amid expectations of
extremities in precipitation.
○ Development and promotion of new technologies will be supported throughmeans such as demonstration of innovative technologies and preparation ofguidelines to encourage advanced treatment and effective use of sewage.
(Studies and research utilizing global observations)○ By utilizing the international cooperation framework of the Group on Earth
Observations (GEO), in which Japan has played a leading role until now,
cooperative activities will be promoted to develop and strengthen research anddevelopment structures for science and technology related to global
observation of the water cycle using satellites, ships, and other means as wellas analysis and adaptation, and to put these to use.
○ To enhance water-cycle observation using satellites as well as monitoring ofwater disasters and related countermeasures, in accordance with the BasicSpace Plan (June 30, 2020, Cabinet decision) based on the Aerospace Basic
Act (Act No. 43 of 2008), together with development of stationary, continual
observation system fleets of environmental monitoring satellites equipped69with equipment such as microwave radiometers and precipitation radars,
domestic and international synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, andsystems for optical satellite coordination, satellite precipitation observation
systems and databases will be developed through means such as use of GSMaP(Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation) for forecast data using resulting
observation data along with terrestrial measurements and mathematicalmodels. These will be utilized continually through near-real timecommunication and precision improvements, and shared with related
institutions and other countries.
(Research on the impacts of climate change on the water cycle)○ Technologies will be developed for forecasting the impact of climate change
on water quality in rivers, lakes and marshes, coastal areas, and other bodies ofwater.
○ In light of the expected increases in severity of floods and droughts
accompanying climate change, together with development of a global
environmental information platform including data on water resources, climatechange forecasting technologies will be improved and data will be collected
for assessment of future impacts on water resources (such as water disasters).
○ Efforts will be advanced to improve forecasting technologies related toprecipitation and rainfall patterns in connection with climate change and todevelop methods for assessment of river-basin-wide countermeasures against
water-related disasters to reduce their risks.
(Effective utilization of research results)○ The national government, local public agencies, and others will strive to shareresults of studies and research with educational institutions and private-sector
organizations, etc., in order to further advance research concerning the water
cycle.

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9. Securing international collaboration and promotinginternational cooperation(1)
International collaboration(Promotion of international cooperation related to the water cycle)○ Since Japan is the world's leading aid-providing nation in international
cooperation related to water and sanitation, it will proactively share with theinternational community the results of its contributions in various regions
around the world in this field as well as utilize the networks it has built up ininternational contributions until now and use international conferences asopportunities for mutual sharing of information, among other efforts, tostrategically deploy international collaboration related to the water cycle.
○ In light of the importance of the water cycle for sustainable growth anddevelopment, Japan will utilize opportunities such as UN World Water Day(March 22), the International Year and International Decade of Water
Cooperation, the World Water Forum (WWF) organized by the World Water
Council (WWC), the Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) organized by the
Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF), and other international conferences andactivities to communicate information to achieve a shared understanding
among the international community of the securing of a sound water cycle as
an important issue.
○ Based on the Kumamoto Water Initiative announced at the 4th Asia-PacificWater Summit (4th APWS), Japan will promote initiatives for both climatechange adaptation and mitigation as well as for improvement of basic living
environments to help solve social issues associated with water.
○ Through collaboration and coordination with UN agencies and international
institutions related to the water cycle, such as the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO), and the Global Water Partnership (GWP), efforts will
be promoted toward integrated water resource management at water cycle andvarious levels in countries worldwide.
○ Efforts also will be promoted toward solutions to water issues in Asia,
including those covered in the SDGs, through Japan’s playing a leading rolein discussions in international conferences and other venues, as well as toward
strengthening water-cycle-related collaboration in Asia through the AsiaPacific Water Forum (APWF), for which Japan played a leading role in its
establishment, the Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO),
and the Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA).
○ While collaborating in the activities of the International Commission on
Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) and the International Network for Water andEcosystem in Paddy Fields (INWEPF), Japan will share and communicate
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information on matters such as efficient water use and demonstration ofmultifaceted functions in wet-field farming in international conferences suchas the World Water Forum (WWF) and the Asia-Pacific Water Summit(APWS).
While collaborating with the Water Environment Federation (WEF) in the
United States, the European Water Association (EWA), the International
Water Association (IWA), and other organizations, Japan will share andcommunicate information on efficient water management and improvements
to treatment technologies, with the goal of contributing to stable supplies ofsafe water and water environmental preservation worldwide.
Through collaboration with the International Lake Environment Committee(ILEC) and the International Center for Environmental Management of
Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS), Japan will promote efforts toward soundmanagement of lake and marsh environments worldwide and sustainable
development in harmony with such management, as well as solutions toenvironmental preservation issues in closed coastal seas.

(Contributions to setting and achievement of international goals etc.)○ Japan will contribute to achievement of sustainable water and sanitation
around the world based on SDG Goals 6 and 13. With regard to achievementof Goal 6.1 ("By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe andaffordable drinking water for all"), Japan will carry out cooperation in
improving management of waterworks agencies and fund raising, to improveaccess to safe water. With regard to achievement of Target 13.1 ("Strengthen
resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural
disasters in all countries"), Japan will support climate change adaptation
measures and securing of drought-resilient water sources.
In addition, withregard to achievement of Target 6.2 ("By 2030, achieve access to adequate
and equitable sanitation and hygiene facilities for all and end open defecation,
paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those invulnerable situations"), Japan will contribute to securing sanitation facilities
around the world by advancing measures such as technologies cooperation inregions where drainage measures for use in living, such as development ofsewer systems (centralized wastewater treatment system) and decentralized
wastewater treatment system, have not yet advanced, in order to improve theliving environment and prevent water pollution through increasing rates oftreatment of drain water.
To contribute to achievement of Target 6.5 ("By2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels,
including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate") and resolve
regional water disputes in accordance with regional circumstances, integrated
water resources management efforts will be promoted.
○ Through cooperation in the UN and other venues with individual countries
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and international institutions such as the High-level Expert Panel on Water
and Disaster (HELP), efforts will be made to share experience and raiseawareness concerning important water-related issues such as water-related
disasters. These will contribute to achievement of SDG Target 1.5 ("By 2030,
build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce
their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and othereconomic, social and environmental shocks and disasters") and Target 11.5("By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number ofpeople affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative
to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related
disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable
situations") as well as the goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction and the Paris Agreement.
In light of the fact that water-related initiatives have cross-functional
importance that concerns all fields, including SDG Goals 6 and 13, to achievethese goals, Japan will share its experience and knowledge with theinternational society through means including coordination with diverse
related parties in the region, both to promote monitoring of the SDGs and toenable practical initiatives by the international society.
Utilizing the framework of “International Decade (2018-2028) for Action Water for Sustainable Development," adopted by the UN General Assemblyin December 2016, awareness of achievement of the SDGs will be stimulated
in international opinion by accelerating cross-functional initiatives in areas
including not only water but also poverty, disaster prevention, and gender.

(2)
International cooperation(Utilization of Japan's development cooperation initiatives)○ Under the Development Cooperation Framework (February 10, 2015,
Cabinet decision), as one of the global issues on which it takes leadership,
Japan aims to contribute further to solutions to global water issues throughutilizing its development cooperation initiatives as the leading aid-providing
nation in the fields of water and sanitation, and taking advantage of theexperience and knowledge it has amassed through development cooperation
efforts until now, while also promoting a sound water cycle.
(Utilization of Japan's technologies, human resources, standards, etc.)○ Japan will contribute to improving governance, technologies, and capabilities
in water-resource development and management around the word, throughutilizing its water-resource development technologies and human resourcesand enhancing structures for international collaboration related to water
resources and while cooperating with the United Nations, international aid
agencies, individual countries, and other partners.
○ The experience and expertise that Japan has amassed in integrated water
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resource management and the public credit and technological capabilities of
the Japan Water Agency will be utilized to contribute to high-quality
infrastructure in the water-resources field.
To promote optimal management of water resources in response to climatechange, together with advancing cooperation with the UNESCO
Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP), whose
activities include capacity development, human-resources development, andregional networking in the Asia- Pacific region, Japan will promote
cooperation related to a co-benefit approach to realize greenhouse-gas
emissions reductions and antipollution measures simultaneously indeveloping countries.
Through frameworks such as the Water Environment Partnership in Asia
(WEPA), efforts will be made to utilize the knowledge that Japan has
accumulated regarding legal systems, technologies, and systems for humanresources development in enhancing collaboration with countries in Asia,
sharing information, and implementing water environmental improvement
programs suited to each country's needs, as part of efforts to improve water
environmental management systems etc., and transfer water treatment
technologies.
Efforts will be made to internationally promote and standardize sewer systems,
Johkasou and so-on for domestic wastewater treatment systems that are
advanced in Japan.
Through technological cooperation, efficient use of agricultural water will bepromoted through means such as development of water management
organizations in which farmers participate.
To enable maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle through forest
preservation, combating deforestation and forest degradation and sustainable
forest management in developing countries will be supported throughtechnological development and human-resources development.
To contribute proactively to lessening the damage caused by water-related
disasters worldwide, systems will be developed to use satellite data to soundearly warnings of water damage and ascertain the status of flood inundationand other results of disasters, together with collaboration with theInternational Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM),
cooperation with United Nations agencies, the World Bank (WB), the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB), the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN andEast Asia (ERIA), and utilizing the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency
Forum (APRSAF), and other agencies to adopt these systems in developing
countries.
Through means such as cooperation with international institutions, bilateralcollaboration, and communication of information in international conferences,
Japan will share knowledge from use of the sciences and technologies it has
built up regarding groundwater resource assessment and groundwater74

pollution and other global groundwater issues, as well as promoting
technological cooperation, and international dialogue.
(3)
Overseas expansion of water businesses(Supporting overseas expansion of water businesses)○ Overseas expansion of the leak prevention technologies, water treatment
technologies, non-open-cut pipe laying and renovation technologies, andother outstanding advanced technologies and systems possessed by Japan's
water-infrastructure- related businesses and others will be advanced throughpublic-private partnership including financial assistance and technologicalcooperation.
○ In the field of water resources, overseas expansion of Japan's waterinfrastructure-related businesses will be advanced through public-private
cooperation utilizing Japan's experience and expertise in realizing stablesupplies of safe, high-quality water and improvements to natural rivers andurban environments through integrated water supply management, while alsousing the public abilities and technological power of the Japan Water Agency.
○ Overseas expansion of Japan's outstanding technologies and experience will
be advanced through public-private cooperation by helping counterparty
countries to adopt Japan's expertise related to topics such as appropriate
operation and management of waterworks and sewer systems as well as
development of organizational structures, legal systems structures, and othersubjects related to improving water governance.
○ Through means such as water-related project feasibility studies, fielddemonstration studies, and seminars in countries in Asia and other regions,overseas expansion of water businesses by Japanese businesses and local
public agencies will be proactively promoted.
○ The formulation of international standards ensuring that Japan’s technologies
are appropriately evaluated will be promoted through Japan’s active andleading involvement in the international standardization process, including
TC224 (Drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems and services),
TC275 (Sludge recovery, recycling, treatment and disposal), and TC282(Water reuse) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
○ Through combination of structural measures to prevent and lessen waterrelated disasters and disaster-related system development, such as observation
and warning systems, tangible and intangible measures will be implemented
in an integrated manner, along with other measures such as effective use ofdams and other existing facilities, to expand Japan's outstanding technologies
and systems overseas through public-private cooperation.

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10. Water-cycle-related human-resources development(1)

Human-resource development and international interpersonal
exchange
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throughindustry-academy-government-resident

collaboration
To develop specialized and generalized human resources in various fields
related to the water cycle, from a medium- to long-term perspective,
cooperative efforts will be carried out technological development, education,and research by the national government, local public agencies, related
institutions, universities, industries, and other parties.
Events such as training sessions and seminars will be held regarding laws,
regulations, policies, initiatives, etc. related to the water cycle, so that theactors in river basin management of local public agencies, local branch officesof national government agencies, businesses, groups, and others can secure
specialized and generalized human resources.
Efforts will be made to improve the technological skills and other abilities ofwater infrastructure managers, through enhancement of qualification
programs related to water infrastructure maintenance, management, andupgrading as well as education, training, and other activities led by outside
instructors. In addition, handing down technologies to younger humanresources will be promoted through means such as enlisting the aid of retirees.
As regional activities, contributions will be made to development of watercycle human resources in regions through deepening exchange and promoting
activities targeting residents of all ages able to contribute to water
infrastructure maintenance and management, preservation and rehabilitationof the water environment, promotion of river basin flood control, and otherareas.
In addition to interpersonal exchange with international institutions in areas
related to the water cycle, such as UN-Water, UN-Habitat, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), the United Nations University (UNU), the World Bank (WB),
the Global Water Partnership (GWP), the World Water Council (WWC), theMekong River Commission (MRC), the International Water Management
Institute (IWMI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other regional
development banks, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD), means such as dispatch of experts to developing
countries as part of international cooperation initiatives will be employed totrain global human resources.

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Part 3What is needed to promote water-cyclerelated measures comprehensively andsystematically

1. Effective implementation of water-cycle-related measures○○

The measures called for in this Plan need to be carried out appropriately andeffectively, through proper adaptation to changes in socioeconomic and otherconditions related to the water cycle and the needs of society andadministrators.
If, in the process of advancing the measures called for in this Plan, a need has
been identified for steps such as revision of systems, prompt consideration
will be taken and the necessary measures will be taken.

2. Duties of related parties and mutual collaboration andcooperation○○○

While comprehensive and integrated promotion of water-cycle-related
measures is essential in order to maintain or recover a sound water cycle, inlight of the fact that Act for Partial Amendment of the Basic Act on the Water
Cycle clearly states that measures for proper groundwater preservation anduse are to be included in measures related to the water cycle, it is even more
important than ever before that the national government and local publicagencies, businesses, members of the public, and others involved in suchmeasures collaborate with each other to carry out proactive measures inaccordance with their individual roles.
It is important that local public agencies, through appropriate division of
responsibilities with the national government, carry out water-cycle-related
measures flexibly and in stages, in accordance with their actual regional
conditions and distinctive properties. In doing so, where there is a need forwide-area efforts across multiple local public agencies, it is important topromote efficient measures through enhanced collaboration among thenational government and local public agencies and close collaboration withvarious agencies.
It also is important that businesses cooperate with water cycle-related
measures implemented by the national government or local public agencies
and, in using water, take measures in areas such as water environmental
preservation, autonomous management of water use, and securing efficientand stable water sources. In addition, of particular importance in the future
will be efforts to lessen environmental impacts through means such as
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adoption of small-scale hydroelectric power and energy conservation.
It is vital that members of the public cooperate with water cycle-related
measures implemented by the national government or local public agencies
and strive to deepen their understanding of the water cycle public throughparticipation in water-cycle-related events, conferences, and other activities.
It is also important that members of the public take actions to maintain or
restore a sound water cycle, such as by preserving and restoring water
environments.
In planning and implementing water-cycle-related measures, to ensure thatsuch measures are promoted properly, it is important to strive to reflectappropriately in them the views of the public and other related parties.
In consideration of the importance of Water Day and Water Week, it must be
noted that while awareness of these events is not particularly high, membersof the public are highly interested in safe and delicious water. In light of this,through collaboration among related parties such as the national government
and local public agencies, businesses, and private-sector organizations,enhancement of events related to Water Day and Water Week andencouragement of participation should be conducted through means such as
stronger collaboration among related parties and proactive provision of
information, so that the public at large has a stronger understanding of andinterest in the importance of maintenance or recovery of a sound water cycle.

3. Publication of measures implemented by the national
government in connection with the water cycle○

Reports on measures implemented by the national government in connection
with the water cycle will be submitted to the Diet annually and publishedthrough appropriate methods.

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