Governance for the Watershed Restoration: A Case Study of the Arase Dam’s Removal in Japan

• In Event: Dams, Fish, and Birds: Citizen Participation, Scientific Knowledge, and Environmental Governance in Japanese Watersheds

Abstract

Recently, several dams have been removed to restore the ecological integrity of material cycling at watershed scale. Those restoration projects are mostly studied by natural scientists, however, taking governance’s importance at the watershed scale into account, the process of dam removal projects should be examined from social scientific viewpoints. Specifically, given the political difficulties of them, it is significant to analyze its governance processes.
This study focuses on Arase Dam’s removal; it is the first large dam removal project in Japan. In 1955, Arase Dam was constructed for electric power generation at Kuma River, which was closely related to the resident’s livelihoods in industries including fishing or tourism. After the dam’s construction, serious damage occurred around the reservoir, including eutrophication and flooding due to sediment deposition and rising riverbed levels. Local residents strongly demanded the dam’s removal, and its removal was decided in 2010 through a complicated negotiation between local residents, local politicians, and others. The removal project is in progress and will finish in 2018.
This study aims to identify the critical factors that brought Arase Dam’s removal into action. We used the process tracing method to illustrate distinctive characteristics in the political process of building consensus regarding the dam removal. Qualitative data on the governance process was collected from local daily newspapers complemented by interviews with key actors. We then discuss the results in terms of the factors for transforming traditional watershed governance into more sustainable one.

Author

• Tomohiko Ohno, Kanazawa University