Author(s): Mikiko Sugiura

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Abstract: Watarase-yusuichi, designated as one of the Ramsar sites by the Ramsar Convention in July 2017 as “a flood control facility with an extensive reed bed with rich biodiversity, ” is a retarding basin located in the center of the Kanto plains. It was constructed in 1922 in River Improvement Project, targeting explicitly flood control and implicitly solution of the Ashio Copper Mine problem. From a perspective of the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) as an integral part of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Wataraseyusuichi contributes to IRBM in terms of flood mitigation in the Tone River basin. Despite the dark side of development history underlying this facility, the retarding basin has come to entail other functions such as wetland conservation and preservation. Though Watarase-yusuichi might be the result of weighing political benefits against the different risks involved, such as the sacrifice of displaced people in Yanaka village who had suffered from mineral poison since the middle of the 19th century, the additional values obtained through the ecological movement should be pursued as a true showcase for sustainability.

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Year: 2018