Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In the agricultural sector, community-based water rights are usually issued. The Land
Improvement Districts (LIDs), many of which have a historical background as voluntary
farmers' associations, are in most cases required by legislation to be established, endowed
with water rights, and responsible for the management of their water use. Each water
right, which is a useful tool for protecting the right to use water mainly during years of
lower precipitation as stated before, is issued to an LID operating and maintaining a
single irrigation scheme comprising dams, head gates, pumping systems, canals and other
facilities. The volume of water available for agriculture is set out, assuming the year of
serious shortage with a probability of occurrence of once every ten years, with careful
consideration to minimise impacts on the environment, to protect the rights of other users
as well as local traditions and customs related to the use of water. Water rights are also
assigned in detail for each half month and the minimum river flow should always
(defined under legislation as at least 355 days a year) be maintained from the perspective
of environmental concerns.
Figure 1. Water Resources and Utilisation in Japan
Unit: 100 million cubic meters
Evaporation & Transpiration: 2,300
Maximum
Availability for
Human Uses
4,200
Precipitation
6,500
Human
Uses
852
Running off into the sea
3,340
Municipal
Industry
(86)
From River
Flows: 746
Agriculture
(126)
(533)
Ground Water
106
(37)
(36)
(33)
123
163
566
Source:
Water Resources in Japan
, Ministry of Land,
Construction and Transportation, 2004.
Note (1) Precipitation; an average of 1971-2000.
(2) Agricultural uses in 2000 (from river flows) and 1996-
98 (groundwater), and industrial and municipal uses in
2002.
For the purpose of utilising possible economies of scale, the area that each LID covers
usually includes several, or in some cases hundreds, of community-based irrigation
systems. Since many LIDs have merged, their number has decreased from 13,163 in 1961
to 7,004 in 2000, and the average area under management has increased from
245 hectares (ha) to 507 ha in the same period. Roughly speaking, each LID manages one
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