This paper reviews the implementation of
water resources management in Japan. The
focus is primarily on the policy, legal, and
institutionalframeworksforwater
resources management, with special
emphasis on the use of market-based
policies as well as more traditional
command-and–control policies (regulations).
Japan has periodically suffered from severe
water shortages, particularly since the rapid
economic and population growth that
began in the 1960’s. Government policies,
however, combined with supporting
institutional and legal frameworks, as well
as enforcement, seem to have effectively
addressed the problem. Hopefully the
lessons from Japan will provide some useful
insights for other countries, such as China,
that face similar water scarcity problems in
the context of rapid economic and
population growth.
The paper has eight sections. After this
introductory section, the second section
briefly discusses the present situation of
water resources availability in Japan.
Sections three to five review the role of
government, budgeting and financing
issues, and legal frameworks for water
resources management. Sections six and
seven are the core of the paper. Section six
discusses the use of various market-based
instruments such as water tariffs, subsidies,
water trading, private sector participation
contacts, and special purpose taxes. Section
seven discusses the use of command-and-
control measures such as water resources
allocation (water rights and/or permits),
and water pollution controls (water quality
standards and/or effluent regulations).
Section eight contains concluding remarks.