Abstract

Groundwater is extremely important to all societies. It provides in many places a reliable and ample supply of water for home use, irrigation, and industry. Japanese groundwater policy consists of complex laws and rules. The law governing groundwater nationally is inadequate. The main controversy has been that a river law exists only at a national level, whereas groundwater law does not exist in the national law of Japan. When local government faces problems with groundwater, the policy makers have to solve the problem following their local rules. Each local government solves problems case by case. Local government is used to obeying local rules and old traditions. Local common law becomes the local groundwater rule. Groundwater policy has recently been progressively promoted to an evolution of the local groundwater ordinances for sustainable groundwater conservation. This paper describes the complex legal framework of the related local groundwater policy and regulations under Japanese law. This is a bibliographic survey of Japanese groundwater laws and local groundwater ordinances. It is used to analyze the functions of local autonomy and the role of ordinances and to explain its changing functionalities of groundwater ordinances. Local ordinances are known as the strongest conservation legal network for sustainable groundwater policy in Japan. This is the first paper to try to explain the basic principles of the Japanese groundwater law for an international journal.

Highlights

  • Groundwater is extremely important to all societies

  • The people’s right might demand that the local parliament be dissolved, because there is a right to vote in a public, political election, which shall be recognized as local government referendum

  • This paper described the legal framework of the related local groundwater policy and regulations under Japanese law

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Summary

Introduction

Groundwater is extremely important to all societies. It provides a reliable and ample supply of water in many places for home use, irrigation, and industry [1]. Japan about Life, Liberty, and the right to the pursuit of happiness provide the authority to build local ordinances for the conservation of sustainable ground water [2] They have become well-grounded articles in every groundwater conservation policy. Laws 2016, 5, 19 is covered by green forestland or paddy fields, an area that can recharge groundwater [5] This press release has received much attention from media all over the country, and people have had a good chance to reconsider how we can keep a local sustainable groundwater supply for future generations. In these circumstances, legislation and controls of groundwater are hotly disputed issues in Japan [6]. If a difficult problem occurs in the future, it is not clear how we can protect groundwater resources without a groundwater law

Geography and Climate
Uses of Groundwater
Organizational Structure
Legal Framework of Groundwater Policy
Overview ofand
Groundwater
Local Self-Government
Local Ordinance by the Constitution of Japan
Local Ordinance by Local Autonomy Law
Niseko’s Groundwater Conservation Ordinances Example
10. Conservation Strategies and Challenges in Niseko
11.1. Capacity of Local Ordinance
11.2. Limitation of Local Groundwater Ordinance
Findings
12. Conclusions
Full Text
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