Abstract
Groundwater protection, which is effected by multiple actors at multiple levels using multiple instruments, is commonly termed “groundwater governance”. Although the concept has attracted increasing attention since the 1990s, several of its associated measures remain to be fully implemented. Most are still inchoate strategies and improvement is expected to be a gradual, long-term process. The Gakunan Council for Coordinated Groundwater Pumping (CCGP), which was established, in 1967, in Fuji City in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, is an exceptional case. The Gakunan CCCP was created to deal with a common-pool resource problem where massive groundwater pumping caused seawater intrusion in the city’s coastal area due to the low cost of extraction and incomplete groundwater ownership. The Gakunan CCCP succeeded in recovering elevation of groundwater tables by connecting efforts between the public and private sectors, including information sharing, legal authority to regulate groundwater, investment in alternative water supplies, internal subsidies between groundwater users, and charge for water disposal. Previous studies have iterated that the fostering of participation from various stakeholders and dividing labor between them appropriately are key elements of successful groundwater governance. This paper investigates these factors, explores the importance of the metagovernor as coordinator, and offers a fresh perspective on the significance of groundwater governance.
Highlights
According to Torfing et al, (2013) [1], governance can be defined as a process of steering society and the economy through collective action and in accordance with some common objectives.The achievement of social goals through the participation of stakeholders with various interests is currently attracting increased attention in the field of groundwater management [2,3,4].As a concept, governance is neither inherently “good” nor “bad” [5]
The Industrial Water Law was enacted in 1956. This implies that the law was first implemented where excessive groundwater pumping was an ongoing reality and the Council for Coordinated Groundwater Pumping (CCGP) were later established in other areas
According to a member company of Gakunan CCGP, the additional fee is determined by the expected total amount of pumped volume (m3 /day), in advance
Summary
According to Torfing et al, (2013) [1], governance can be defined as a process of steering society and the economy through collective action and in accordance with some common objectives. May offer useful information as a case study for researchers and practitioners on groundwater governance More than twenty such councils have been established at the local level throughout Japan. Previous studies have iterated that promoting the participation of various stakeholders and dividing labor appropriately between them are key elements in successful local groundwater governance [8,10,11]. This paper investigates these factors, explores the importance of the metagovernor as coordinator, and offers a different perspective on the significance of groundwater governance. General policy lessons for groundwater governance emerging from the Gakunan CCGP case study are presented in the fifth section. An overall summary is offered in the sixth section
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