AUICK held the "2003 Seminar on Population and Sustainable Water Resource Management in Urban Planning" in Kobe from December 1 to December 10, 2003. AUICK invited 9 participants from 9 medium-sized cities representing 9 Asian countries. This is the eighth seminar on a specific field targeting senior officials in relevant departments of selected Asian medium-sized cities, under the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Kobe City Government.

Background

Water is a resource indispensable for life. Water is also an important resource which limits sustainable urban development. Regrettably, rapid population growth and industrialization in a city and its surrounding areas will cause an increase in water demand which may exceed its water supply capacity and contribute to the degradation of the environment. It is therefore necessary for the city administration to take appropriate measures to insure an adequate quality water supply, taking into account the population dynamics.

In the urbanization process, water circulation has been lost and cut off due to asphalted and concreted ground surface, which has caused serious effects to the urban water environment such as quality aggravation of discharged water, causing degradation of underground water, and increase in drained water volume. The regeneration of lost water circulation is one of the fundamental tasks in urban planning.

Yet some medium-sized cities in Asia have no administrative authority for water resource management. Even for them, the water resource management is a critical factor in planning and implementing urban development policies.

With the above point in mind, AUICK organized a seminar focusing on population and sustainable water resource management issues in urban areas. It was designed for the directors or vice directors who are in charge of water supply services or general urban planning, including, water resource management.

The seminar focused mainly on domestic, non-commercial water which is most important for citizens' daily life. Gender is a cross-cutting issue, and accordingly was addressed in water resource management.

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Aim

1. To give participants basic information on how to grasp the present situation and future prospect of water resources, analyze causes and effects, and take countermeasures at an early stage.

2. To give participants an awareness of both negative and positives aspects of water resources.

3. To give participants basic knowledge to learn what kind of system is best for their own city water supply and sewage treatment.

4. To give participants basic knowledge to study the issues related to population factors and sustainable water supply.

5. To help participants to obtain practical knowledge as to how to solve them through lectures from experts, on-site visits, and exchange of knowledge and experiences among the participants. To facilitate the discussion among the participants, each participant is expected to present a report on the water supply issues in his/her own city.

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Participants

The seminar targeted the top or the second top officials in charge of the department of water resource management or urban planning, of 9 selected Asian Cities: Chittagong (Bangladesh), Tianjin (China), Chennai (India), Surabaya (Indonesia), Kuantan (Malaysia), Faisalabad (Pakistan), Olongapo (Philippines), Khon Kaen(Thailand), Haiphong (Vietnam) (in alphabetical order of country's name)

Mr. A.K.M. Rezaul Karim
City Planner of City Planning Department, Chittagong City Corporation, Bangladesh

Mr. Guanmun Li
Director of Information Management Center, Tianjin Waterworks (Group) Co.Ltd., Tianjin City, China

Mr. Arumugam Swaminathan
Chief Engineer of Chennai Corporation, India

Ms. Euis Darliana
Chief of Sub-Division of Environment, Development Planning Agency, Surabaya City Government, Indonesia

Mr. Alias Mohd. Salleh
Director of Planning and Development Department, Kuantan Municipal Council, Malaysia

Mr. Syed Ghias Ud Din
Managing Director of Water and Sanitary Agency, Faisalabad Development Authority, Pakistan

Ms. Lynette Labo Dera Cruz
Project Development Officer IV of City Planning and Development Office, Olongapo City Government, Philippines

Mr. Yinchai Arnanthanasakun
Director of Sanitary Works Division, Khon Kaen Municipality, Thailand

Mr. Du Nang Khoa
Chief of Urban Planning Department, Urban Planning Institute of Haiphong City, Vietnam

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Schedule

1st Day: Monday, December 1

The participants arrived in Kobe one by one from each country.

2nd Day: Tuesday, December 2

In the morning session, following an orientation by Mr. Nobuyuki Morimoto, Manager of AUICK, the opening ceremony started, Mr. Kazutoshi Sasayama, Chairman of AUICK, delivered a welcome message to the participants, and each participant introduced themself.

After the ceremony, a lecture "Administration Mechanism of Japan and Outline of Kobe" was delivered by Mr. Toshiaki Baba, Director of AUICK. Mr. Baba delivered the lecture in two parts: He explained the legal status, population and area, and comprehensive empowerment in Part 1 "An outline of local government in Japan" then Part in 2; "The mechanism of local government" He refered to classification, organization, power of governors and mayors, administrative committees, elected council and finances. Participants got some information about the city where they would stay for 10 days and about whose water resource issues they would study.

In the afternoon session Dr. Toshio Kuroda, Director Emeritus of the Population Research Institute, Nihon University delivered a lecture on "Population and Water Resource Management." Dr. Kuroda explained the concerns regarding population problems in the future, and the challenges we are now facing. He used figures and indicators to explain these points. (details on P.7)

Dr. Toshio Kuroda (right)

The 3rd lecture on this day on "Urban Planning of Kobe City" was delivered by Mr. Yuichi Honjo, Manager of Planning and Coordination Bureau, Kobe City. He explained about changes in Kobe City according to its history and disasters, and its reconstruction after the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake.

Mr. Yuichi Honjo

In the evening, a welcome reception was hosted by the Chairman of AUICK, Mr. Kazutoshi Sasayama.

3rd Day: Wednesday, December 3

In the morning session, two lectures on the water management of Kobe City were delivered by two Kobe City Government officials. First, Mr. Tetsuo Kijima, Manager of Water Works Bureau, delivered a lecture on "Population and Water Supply Project of Kobe - History, Current State, and Technical Challenges."

Mr. Tetsuo Kijima

Mr. Kijima outlined the water supply in Kobe: history, damages caused by some disasters and recovery, current situation, and future vision. (details on P.13)

Next, Mr. Takeshi Tachikawa, Manager of Waterworks Bureau, delivered a lecture on "Current State and Challenges of Water Supply Management of Kobe." Mr. Tachikawa explained the costs of the water supply with comparison to other cities' standards, the city's effort to maintain the fee level, the goals of the city for service and installations, the current situation. (details on P.13)

Mr. Takeshi Tachikawa

In the afternoon session, the participants visited the Higashi (East) Water Environment Center. Mr. Kyozo Takenaka, Manager of Public Construction Projects Bureau, outlined "Current State and Challenges of Sewerage Management of Kobe," including the sewerage system in Kobe City, methods and merits of that system, costs and quality. After the lecture, participants were guided on a tour of the center. (details on P.13)

Mr. Kyozo Takenaka

Control Center

Next, the participants visited the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution which was established to pass down the experience and lessons from the earthquake to future generations, and to contribute to reducing damages from disasters in Japan and abroad. The institution consists of a human resource development division, a display division and so on. Participants learn about the horror and devastation of the earthquake through photos, films and other materials, and they also learnt how to prepare for future disasters.

4th Day: Thursday, December 4

In the morning session, the participants went on a site visit to the Water Purification Plant and Water Quality Examination Center in Kobe.

Lecture

Mr. Noboru Umezawa, Director of the plant, explained the means of obtaining water, the purification process, citizens' demands and the level of water supply. The participants learnt the monitoring system and examination procedures in Kobe City. (details on P.13)

Guided tour inside the Purification Plant

The afternoon session was opened to the public as the UNFPA Seminar on "Population, Water and Gender in Asia." The participants, as panelists, made 5-minute speeches about specified topics related to their country, and answered some questions from the audience. (details on P.29)

5th Day: Friday, December 5

Early in the morning the participants departed for site visits outside the city. First, they visited the Hiyoshi Dam, which was built for the purposes of flood control and water supply for an increasing population in the downstream area. It is developed and managed by the Japanese governmental authority, "Japan Water Agency". The director Mr. Toshifumi Maruyama gave a lecture on "Water Resource Development Plan of Japan" and guided the participants through the dam facilities. (details on P.29)

Hiyoshi Dam

In the afternoon the participants travelled to the Lake Biwa, the biggest lake in Japan, which provides water to a wide area, including the City of Kobe. They visited the Lake Biwa Researchers Institute. Researchers, Dr. Machiko Nishino and Dr. Yoshihiro Azuma, gave lectures on the biological, metrological and geographical points of view on "Environmental Issues of Lake Biwa". (details on P.29)

Dr. Machiko Nishino and the participants

Dr. Yoshihiro Azuma

6th Day: Saturday, December 6

The participants took a one-day tour of Kyoto, which is an ancient capital that has more than 1200 year old history. They learnt Japanese culture and traditions through some historical and religeous places.

7th Day: Sunday, December 7

A whole day was applied to the presentation of City Reports. It was held under the facilitation of Dr. Hirofumi Ando, the president of AUICK and professor of the International Relationship Department, Nihon University. The participants presented the current situation of their cities and countries, relating to water issues, through the use of powerpoint or slides. (details on P.20)

8th Day: Monday, December 8

In the morning session, Dr. Takeshi Hata, a professor of the Faculty of Agriculture at Kobe University, gave a lecture on "Water Environment Preservation and Sustainable Water Resource Management in Urban Areas". Dr. Hata introduced a disease caused by polluted water in Japan and how to preserve the water the environment. (details on P.10)

Dr. Takeshi Hata

In the afternoon session the participants took a tour of Kobe's neighboring city, Akashi. After a courtesy call to the mayor of Akashi City, Mr. Hiroto Kitaguchi, Mr. Masahiro Ando, a head engineer of the Waterworks Bureau in Akashi City, explained the source of Akashi's water supply, its groundwater resources and policies.

Akashi city water facilities include four purification plants, three distribution plants, one water intake plant, two storage reservoirs and 61 wells tapping groundwater. Akashi does not have an abundance of water due to rainfall lower than the national average. Akashi takes great pains to collect, carefully store and use water efficiently. Akashi draws water form three sources; groundwater, river water and supplies from dams in the Hyogo prefecture.

More than 50 percent of Akashi's water supply is sourced from groundwater, and as more and more groundwater is drawn off, the level of groundwater will dip below that of the sea, allowing salt contamination from sea water seeping inland. In order to address this issue, the City of Akashi has put in place regulations to control the industrial pumping of groundwater.

In order to efficiently use river water, reservoirs were built to store excess water accumulated during the wet season. For purification, Akashi uses a new treatment process involving ozone and activated charcoal, in addition to conventional procedures such as chemical precipitation and sand filtration. The new process is used to lower trihalomethanes (THM) levels, which in recent years have been on the increase.

Following the lecture the participants were guided through the Advanced Water Treatment Facility in the Water Treatment Plant.

9th Day: Tuesday, December 9

The participants had an evaluation meeting with an initiative of Mr. Masayuki Ishitsubo, Executive Director of AUICK. Then the closing ceremony was held and each participant was conferred a certificate by Mr. Kazutoshi Sasayama, Chairman of AUICK.

Closing ceremony

The participants visited the City Hall to pay a courtesy call to the City Mayor, Mr. Tatsuo Yada. After a short speech by the Mayor each participant expressed their gratitude and reported their fruitful experience during the seminar.

With Mr. Tatsuo Yada, Mayor of Kobe

A farewell lunch was hosted by Mr. Sasayama.

10th Day: December 10

The participants left for own countries.