Water and Soil Management for Water Conservation in a Watershed - Water and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies - page 301

Conclusion
Water and soil management for more sustainable use of water resources should be
considered in two aspects, water quality and quantity, because both farmers and
consumers are concerned about environmental impacts derived from water consumption
by agriculture. Therefore, it will be very important to protect water resources from
pollution for the supply of water of high quality, or to go in the right direction for
sustainable water use. As for water quantity, policies should be drafted to raise the WRC
of agricultural land in order to reduce a potential risk of flooding. For example, it needs to
encourage farmers to maintain the shape of the paddy field, even though the field is idle
without cropping. A national project to promote the construction of basic facilities for
conservation practices that can reduce soil erosion and run-off will be also available. One
of the best strategies for sustainable use of water could be to maintain the dykes and
shapes of paddy fields without the destruction of arable land for the construction of
facilities not having water storage capacity, such as roads, houses and industrial
complexes. As for water quality, a new approach and concept considering land use,
including paddy fields which cover 61% of total arable land, is required to improve water
quality by protecting water resources from pollution by farming. Conclusively, we think
that the first step needed in order to minimise water pollution and to acquire water
resources for sustainable use is to compartmentalise the watershed based on the
topographical characteristics of land and species of mother rocks. The second is to assess
pollution load from agriculture within the watershed; the third is to identify pollution
source; the fourth is to categorise land use patterns into non-paddy and paddy, etc.; the
fifth is to assess runoff, drainage in paddy land and soil erosion potential in non-paddy
land; and the sixth is to determine soil conservation practices depending on the soil
erosion grade in each field of non-paddy land. The last step is to apply appropriate
management practices for water, soil, crop, fertilisers and agro-chemicals in each field.
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