An Inquiry into Institutional Drought Adaptation and Sustainability: Some Implications from the Case fo the Sanuki Plain

Abstract

"This paper investigates the process of institutional adaptation to drought in the case of the severe 1994 drought in the Sanuki plain (Kagawa Prefecture) and examines the effectiveness and limits of Ostrom's analytical framework in light of this case. The Sanuki plain is one of the driest regions in Japan. Having suffered from serious water shortages frequently, farmers in the Sanuki Plain have developed an extensive pond irrigation system in conjunction with local institutions to achieve a stable water supply. This pond irrigation system, which is mostly connected to the Kagawa Canal and forms a complex water distribution network across the Sanuki plain, played an important role in adaption to the severe drought of 1994. The Sanuki Plain is located to the northeastern part of Shikoku island in Japan (Figure 1). In the Sanuki Plain, it has been difficult to irrigate land in a stable manner due to geological, geographical, and climatic conditions, and people have long suffered damage caused by frequently occurring droughts. In attempts to mitigate such problems, systems of irrigation centering on ponds have been extensively developed since the jori system of land readjustment in the ancient period (kodai), and unique traditional practices of agricultural irrigation have been devised to respond to the frequent droughts (Nagamachi 1991, Kagawa Canal Land Improvement District 1998). These traditional practices include, bansui, a practice for efficient use of reservoir water based on efforts to prolong water supply from reservoirs and distribute water according to plans, as well as water-saving irrigation techniques like kiriotoshi and hashiri-mizu intended to increase water use efficiency in individual crop fields."