Groundwater uses in the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011: a case study on Disaster Emergency Wells
Abstract
Earthquakes often destroy basic infrastructure, underpinning the basic services that modern society relies on. In particular, securing water supply for drinking and domestic purposes is an extremely important issue after an earthquake. Water shortages occur frequently when waterworks are destroyed in Japan, an earthquake-prone country in the pan-Pacific Ring of Fire. While water supply systems across Japan are presently being reconstructed to ensure they are earthquake resistant, only 30% have been completed so far.
While various options exist for securing water for drinking and domestic use during emergencies, recent recurring earthquakes in Japan have prompted a renewed focus on local groundwater supplies, or disaster emergency wells (DEWs). Waterworks are generally vulnerable to earthquakes because they comprise long-distance pipes that are often damaged in earthquakes. Groundwater, however, can usually be found directly below the area where water is needed and can serve as an effective water-source alternative after an earthquake. While newspaper articles covering the issue of DEWs were helpful after recent major earthquakes in Japan, little is known about how local governments and residents actually used them. The present study investigated how a municipality decided to use DEWs, the geographical distribution and ownership of DEWs, and details of how they were used through a case study in a few cities including Sendai, the largest city in the area damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. In Sendai, more than 200 privately owned wells were registered as DEWs in 2011. According to a questionnaire survey by the Sendai city administration after the earthquake, about half of these wells were actually used to provide water for domestic uses. In addition, not a few wells were used to supply neighbors as well as the well owners. This implies that DEWs are a local governance problem, as local residents and government made collaboration to cope with water shortage after a disaster. More case studies should be done to evaluate the effectiveness of DEWs. This study is a preliminary step for such evaluations.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMH171.0014E
- Keywords:
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- 1630 Impacts of global change;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1884 Water supply;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1990 Uncertainty;
- INFORMATICS