2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Comparative Legal Study on Water Law in Japan sand the United States-For Sound Environment of River Basins-

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22730105
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	New fields of law
Research Institution	Kochi University
Principal Investigator	MATSUMOTO Mitsuo 高知大学, 教育研究部・人文社会科学系, 准教授 (70380300)
Project Period (FY)	2010 – 2011
Keywords	水法 / 環境法 / 水利権取引・水取引 / 地下水の持続的利用 / 安全採取量 / 配分原理 / 生態系への影響緩和
Research Abstract	Since Japan is located in the Monsoon Asia and its flood plains have been developed in 1960s and 70s, it frequently suffers from flood. Also, because rice farming is common, it is difficult to manage supply-demand balance in the summer time. After experiencing severe water conflict, it had started relying on what they thought as a panacea, dams. But the side effects of dams have become more evident while Japan is facing severe financial deficit. This project explored four possible alternatives to change the course of actions ; from flood control to mitigation of damage from flood, water transfer, sustainable use of groundwater, mitigation of negative impacts to the local communities and the ecosystem. During two-year project period, significant progress has been made in designing legal system of water transfer and sustainable use of groundwater.