Hiroshima Starts Reservoir Checks as Breaches Increase

July 13, 2018

Hiroshima- The Hiroshima prefectural government has started emergency inspections of artificial reservoirs in cooperation with the Self-Defense Forces, in the face of the breaches of many such bodies of water after torrential rains that struck western Japan over last weekend.

The number of reported reservoir breaches in the western Japan prefecture has come to 10, exceeding nine reported in heavy rains that hit northern parts of the Kyushu southwestern Japan region in July last year.

In Japan, there are some 200,000 artificial reservoirs for securing water used in farming, many of which are managed by local farmers. Some 60 pct of them are in Hiroshima and other prefectures in the Setouchi region around the Seto Inland Sea, which has low annual rainfall.

By prefecture, there are some 19,600 such reservoirs in Hiroshima, the second highest after about 43,200 in Hyogo Prefecture, which also faces the inland sea.

In the Hiroshima city of Fukuyama, a three-year-old girl died after being washed away in a reservoir breach caused by the recent heavy rain.

With damage found with embankments at two other reservoirs in the city, the Fukuyama municipal government temporarily issued an evacuation order to nearby residents.

The embankment for one of the two was repaired only a few years ago. "The heavy rain must have made it fragile," a city official said, explaining the reason for the damage.

"The reservoir has been there for a long time, but it is the first time that such a problem has occurred," said a local who manages it with other residents.

According to the agriculture ministry, many of the reservoirs in Japan were built during the Edo period (1603-1868) or before.

Repair measures, such as strengthening embankments, are being taken, with priority given to reservoirs that have become fragile due to aging, but a huge amount of work remains.

The Hiroshima prefectural government is advising local residents to report to relevant municipalities if they find cracks and other reservoir problems, and to evacuate immediately. Jiji Press