2010 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages 49-64
Kumamoto Prefecture is famous for its abundance of clear, good-tasting groundwater. As natural water resources many rivers, including the Kuma River, run through and there lie more than a thousand spring spots like those feeding the place around Suizenji and the Lake Ezuko. Though the population of Kumamoto area has long been dependent on groundwater among many water resources, problems are emerging recently concerning both quality and quantity of the water. Kumamoto Prefecture is now expecting sustainable utilization of groundwater for the future by comprehensively managing its quantity and quality in terms of the circulation of groundwater. The prefecture and 16 cities including Kumamoto City made the ‘First Plan for Comprehensive Control of Groundwater in the Kumamoto Area’ in March 1993, followed by its subsequent plan in September 2008. In accordance with them, a variety of measures have been taken in order to store more groundwater, reduce the total amount drawn and prevent the water deterioration. In this article, I mainly describe the contents of these two plans above for controlling the quality and quantity of groundwater in the Kumamoto area.
