Integrated water resource management
In this day and age, water environment conservation, along with water resource development, has become widely recognized as an issue of governance requiring the involvement a variety of stakeholders in many countries. In general, developing countries are seeking successful models and tools to solve water environment issues by examining the experiences of developed countries; however, the contexts and conditions behind the successful or ongoing projects have not been considered carefully heretofore.
To realize sustainable use of water resources, it is essential, in addition to developing water resources, to conserve them as well in order to prevent water shortages, deterioration in water quality (contamination), and destruction of the natural environment in basin areas which might be caused by the development of water resources. It is also crucial to maintain various tangible and intangible public-interest features generated from the relationship between water and people, such as scenery, history, culture, and amenities.
Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is a concept widely recognized in the international community as a way to realize sustainable use of water resources. According to the Global Water Partnership (GWP), IWRM is defined as “a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems”. The GWP notes that lack of integrated water resources management is the underlying reason for unsuccessful water resources management and advocates integrated management of natural and socioeconomic systems, combined with integrated management of each element of these systems. IWRM is a comprehensive philosophy that takes the full scope of aspects related to water resources into consideration.
In Japan, it has been pointed out that integrated coordination of water policy has been needed for a long time; however, such integrated coordination has not been realized yet. The water quality and water environment is supervised by the Ministry of Environment, while the domestic water supply is supervised by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, irrigation by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, industrial water supply by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and sewerage and river management by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. In general, water policies in Japan are still fragmented, except for the coordination among central bureaus and local governments for emergent water shortages.