A Town Where the Voice of Water Is Unheard: The Water Supply Crisis in Rausu Town, Hokkaido, Japan

A Town Where the Voice of Water Is Unheard: The Water Supply Crisis in Rausu Town, Hokkaido, Japan

Hokkaido's waterworks system is quietly but surely moving toward its limits. The steel and concrete networks that once supported our daily lives are now being subjected to a wave of deterioration, and replacement is not keeping pace. Many of the waterworks facilities built during the period of rapid economic growth have long since passed their useful life, and deteriorating pipelines are now a breeding ground for damage and leaks. Some estimates suggest that the cost of renewing water supply facilities in 2048 will be 1.5 times the current level, and not many municipalities in Hokkaido have the finances to bear the weight of such an increase.

In terms of finances, depopulation and population decline are having a serious impact. With fewer people, less water can be sold. Combined with the growing awareness of water conservation, water rate revenues continue to decline. Municipalities that continue to maintain and repair their facilities, without being able to renew them, are unable to hide their exhaustion. The city of Akabira is being warned that it will not be able to renew its aging facilities unless it revises its water rates. However, many residents are cautious about increasing the burden on them, and the question of how to strike a balance between business and residents' lives remains unanswered.

And now, the most serious problem for the future of waterworks is the lack of "human resources. Without technical staff, there will be no eyes to examine the condition of the facilities and no hands to make decisions. In Rausu, a small town in Hokkaido, there has been no technical staff in charge of waterworks for about eight years. During this "blank period," the water supply infrastructure quietly but surely aged.

In response to this issue, Hokkaido is promoting wide-area cooperation in the waterworks industry. This is an attempt to seek a sustainable water supply infrastructure by sharing facilities and human resources across towns and cities. In addition, financial and technical support from the national and prefectural governments is gradually being expanded. However, even such collaboration is not easy in Hokkaido, which is geographically large and has a low population density. There is still an insurmountable barrier between the principles of integration and efficiency and the distance and circumstances on the ground.

Water not only supports people's lives, but is also a reflection of the system and will of the town. Rausu's "eight years of voicelessness" has left us with the question of who will protect the water when the system collapses. Perhaps the time has come to quietly listen to the voice of the water.

Related information (source)

Hokkaido Government "Management Comparison Analysis Chart
Rausu Town "Comparative Analysis of Water Supply Business Management Chart
Akahira City "Consideration of Waterworks Rate Revisions" (Japanese only)
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism "Material on Promotion of Wide-Area Development of Waterworks Business" (Japanese only)

For more detailed information, we recommend that you refer to the waterworks section of each municipality or the national waterworks statistics.