"Waterfront
of Hino-Recent 100 Years of Natural History"
Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Norio Ogura
Environment
monitoring has been conducted for Asakawa (River) and division water
of Mukojima in Hino City, by citizens and the government. Environment
monitoring for Asakawa has been continued for 30 years since 1975.
Environment
monitoring goes back to 1400's, of "omiwatari" (ice forms)
onto the Swako (Lake), which provided the data for clarification of
relationship between environment and weather system. The research of
water quality
started in 1874 for Tamagawa Josui canal. Tokyo Central Meteorological
Observatory (the predecessor of Japan Meteorological Agency) started
to observe the temperature and rainfall level. In 1833, analysis of
rain was conducted by Komaba Agricultural Collage. The research was
for calculation
of the amount of manure to be used by excluding the component of manure
included in rain. The first environment monitoring by the Japanese
Society of Limnology was the measurement of the water depth of Yamanakako
(Lake)
in 1899. In 1901, the periodical water quality survey in Biwako (Lake)
was commenced, and ocean survey was started in Bay of Tokyo in 1922.
In 1924, rainfall level and runoff water level were measured within
the experiment forest of Tokyo University. When entering an age of
high economic
growth in the 1970's, the air pollution became one of the critical
problems; the anti water pollution law was implemented and periodical
water survey
began for public water.
The Junkoku waterside area in Hino was the subject of long-term monitoring
site; the water environment of the area can be clarified through the
historical documents of Juntoku elementary school, prepared for recent
100, 110 and 130 years.
Now we will look at the civil activities in Hino. In 1985, the consumer
network of Hino City conducted the water survey of Toyoda waterway in
a simplified method. At the same time, Study Group of Asakawa started
the water survey of Asakawa. Water and Green Network, which connecting
various civil activities together, implemented the general survey on
neighborhood rivers of Tamagawa water system. The survey developed into
a general survey of neighborhood water environment in 2004. This year,
the second survey collected data from 5018 sites from 47 prefectural
and city governments. The activities for getting close with waterside
of Juntoku were started in 2005. Recently, waterways charts have been
prepared by citizens.
The countermeasures against global heating and acid rain for over next
100 years should be prepared and maintained. The influence to water quality
and ecosystem should be evaluated in 100-years units, and the monitoring
is required on a regular basis. The current status, transformation and
trends enable correct forecast, which serve to find appropriate countermeasures.
LTER（Long Term Ecological Research）was initiated in 1960 in the US and
at present, monitoring was spread for 24 ecological sites. LTER are internationally
emphasized and the ILTER network was established connecting 27 Asian
countries including China and Korea. However, Japan is not participated
in the network because the window to the LTER is not prepared by the
government. Japan Ecosystem Institution (日本生態系協会) and Japan Forestry
Society (林学会) began to discuss LTER. Japan Society of Limnology began
to prepare database based on old data to solve global environment problems.
It is important to conduct the long-term survey on global ecosystem and
water quality, based on the nationwide monitoring systems composed by
citizens, government and specialists. I wish to organize a monitoring
site in Hino. |
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