Residents’ Understanding of and Interest in Isotope Techniques for Groundwater Conservation

A Study of Symposium Participants in Oshino Village, Yamanashi Prefecture

Abstract

We investigated to which degree residents of areas with local government-led groundwater conservation understand and are interested in groundwater isotope analysis techniques through a questionnaire survey in Oshino Village, Yamanashi prefecture. Results showed that residents have similarly high degrees of interest in the information obtained through isotope techniques (origin, flow, age of groundwater) to information obtained through other techniques (quality, volume, temperature of groundwater). Groundwater flow was identified as an important focus of investigation for future groundwater conservation studies. While increasing knowledge about isotope analysis and interest in groundwater remains an issue, this study suggests that isotope analysis can facilitate obtaining a consensus of various stakeholders as one structural factor in groundwater management, even if management is initiated by the local government.