ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Lakes Littered by Household, Industrial Waste

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Nov 6 1995 (IPS) - Japan’s post-war industrial and construction boom has brought economic wealth, but ecologists say it has come at a major environmental cost to its 480 lakes and marshes.

Ecologists say the chemicals from soap detergents used in the household are also major polluting agents and warn that the continued drainage of harmful substances into the lakes poses a serious threat to the clean drinking water supply of residents in Tokyo and living on the outskirts of the capital.

They point for example at the Kasumigaura, Japan’s second largest lake situated in Ibaragi prefecture on the outskirts of Tokyo, and an important source of freshwater for the capital.

Development projects around the lake that covers approximately 20 sq kms, as well as thriving agriculture and livestock farming has resulted in indiscriminate human and industrial waste discharge, they say.

A recent international conference focusing on the protection of the world’s lakes, also drew attention to the threat posed to millions of Japanese who depend on the water supply not only from this lake, but also from Biwa, Japan’s largest fresh water lake situated in southern Japan and a key source for Osaka residents.

The conclusion of the Tokyo conference, was that industry and private individuals must both shoulder their responsibility in protecting the world’s lakes.

“The conference was unique because it concentrated on building a harmonious effort to preserve lakes which have been ravaged due to environmentally harmful development projects and life-styles,” said Professor Akira Otsuki of Tokyo University of Fisheries.

Last week’s United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)- sponsored conference was the sixth of its kind since 1984, and brought together 8,000 people from 80 countries,

“The gathering was a landmark in environment conferences because representatives were a combination of researchers, bureaucrats, businesses and citizen movements, all sitting together not to criticize one another but to together discuss what should be done,” he said.

“More people in the construction ministry, for example, are realising the importance of keeping lakes clean for the benefit of the economy. This is an important development in Japan,” Ostuki added.

The situation in Japan is particularly acute. Ecologists say that the quality of water in Kasumigaura has been deteriorating since the 1960s — so much so that by 1974 shore areas previously clean enough for swimming — were declared off-limits.

Algae, which consumes much of the oxygen in the water, also covers the lake and causes a foul odor. It has endangered smelt fish which once thrived in the lake, as well as plant life. Carp breeding has also been affected.

Alarmed by the decline of the large lake, Japan’s Environment Agency has over the past 12 years taken steps to address the issue.

In 1984, it made it illegal for households in the vicinity of the lake, to use synthetic detergents. The state agency also placed limitations on the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus allowed in industrial effluent.

The local Ibaragi government also prepared laws that called on companies to conduct environment assessments before beginning development projects. Farmers are also being targeted in the use of fertilisers and the disposal of livestock waste.

These measures have drastically reduced the amount of hazardous chemical agents drained into the lake, experts say. But they remain concerned about a continuing high level of household effluents.

“It has become increasingly clear that lakes cannot be saved unless the people living around them are involved,” says Tomiko Okui a member of a citizen’s group called Tsuchiura Nature Conservation Organisation.