R&D ProjectsDistributed Rainwater Management for a Sustainable Well-being Society

General Description of the Research Project

The present centralized water control system is efficient but managed in a fragmented way depending on the purposes of use. Consequently, comprehensive response to natural disaster risks such as torrential rain and floods is difficult to achieve. In addition, a water control system is not tangible to our daily life, and therefore does not attract people's attention, leaving the problem unattended.

This project proposes an “Amamizu (Rainfall) society,” a reconstruction of a water-centered community in the Hii River area, Fukuoka Prefecture, with the introduction of a comprehensive water cycle which can take care of flood control, water utilization, environment and people's lifestyles. As a decentralized subsystem to complement the current water control system, we will take an approach of capturing and storing rainwater, and allow it to penetrate into the ground with the participation of intergenerational and diverse stakeholders in the area. This can contribute to people's awareness about water control while rehabilitating local productive ecosystems in collecting and using rainwater.