Environmental Implications of Communal Property Management Around Lake-Biwa Area, Japan

Abstract

"The main aim of this paper is to analyze the environmental implications of the change in river management in modern Japan. That is, from self management of communally held property to government management. To this end historical documents were analyzed and intensive interviews with the village people around Lake Biqa area have been conducted. This is an area where water environmental problems of eutrophication have been wide spread in the last thirty years. River environments have played a multi-dimensional role in rural community life such as in the supply of water as a resource for paddy field as well as domestic water use and through the supply of various resources like bamboo or wood on river banks for fire and construction purposes. At the same time, the river has brought frequent and severe flood problems to local communities who have responded by promoting local self-management for flood control."