The Southern Hyogo Prefectural Earthquake caused damage of various kinds in Kobe City. Supplies of electricity, gas, and water immediately came to a full stop. Roads and railways were destroyed. Administrative control functions of the single-center system were paralyzed and organization of rescue activities by small communities became necessary.
This article aims to investigate emergency water supply systems in the sake-brewing areas of Kobe and to propose the necessity for local control systems and preservation of water resources.
Sake-brewing industries are located on recent alluvial fan areas with rich groundwater resources. Groundwater is drawn from many wells located throughout these regions. The regions under study, Nada-nishi-sango, belong to the outer transitional areas, bordered by residential districts on the north, and by reclaimed industrial-use land on the south. The land use is a mix of residential, industrial, and commercial functions.
Under the difficult conditions of heavy damage, sake brewerers used their resources to supply emergency water to help quake victims. Just after the earthquake, water preserved in tanks for use in sake brewing was supplied. Next, water from wells and after that water from the city's special water supply system for the exclusive use of the sake breweries was utilized.
The quantity and quality of water from all wells were inspected regularly under the meticulous control of the sake brewers' union. In 1973, the brewers' union funded construction of the city's special water supply system for the union's exclusive use, as a countermeasure against a possible decline of groundwater due to the development of surrounding areas. This emergency water supply to neighboring victims, evacuation centers, and hospitals continued from January 17th to early March.
It is recommended that the city's renewal plan adopts the following proposals. Large quantities of water are needed after an earthquake in a metropolitan area, and water reservoirs for such needs should be built and controlled by small communities for easy access. Kobe has good groundwater resources, but such resources are in danger of deterioration due to destruction of the natural environment accompanied by regional development. As seen in the example of sake-brewing areas, networks based on small area units should be prepared as measures against disasters. Future tasks should include inspection and preservation of old wells no longer being used.
In transitional areas of large cities, rapid industrial growth typical of harbor cities has caused deterioration of both the social and natural environments. The government's delay in making needed improvements, compounded by an expanding aged population and by the large number of rotting old wooden dwellings, intensified the losses caused by the earthquake. In land use planning for the city's renewal, preservation of the natural environment and improvement of the social environment should be kept in mind.
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