Japan Govt to Share Well Info to Promote Use During Disasters, Aims for Alternative Water Sources in Every Municipality

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:05 JST, August 25, 2025

The government has begun considering a plan to disclose the locations of about 80,000 wells to local governments across the country to promote their widespread use in the event of disaster, it has been learned.

This initiative is based on lessons learned from the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in January last year, which caused prolonged disruption to water supplies, and aims for the active utilization of underground water resources. With this move, the government aims to meet its goal of all municipalities having alternative water sources for use during disasters.

The information to be disclosed comes from a database of wells with a depth of at least 30 meters compiled by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry. The database contains information on about 80,000 wells drilled nationwide since fiscal 1952, including their exact locations, flow rates and water quality. However, since the government has not conducted surveys of these locations on a regular basis, the database lists wells that no longer exist.

Many of the wells on the database are located on private property, so detailed addresses are not currently disclosed publicly. The central government therefore aims to resolve such issues as the protection of private information before sharing details of the wells with local governments by the end of the fiscal year.

Disaster wells are those registered by local governments for use during disasters, and some are owned by individuals and business entities. In the event of an earthquake or other disaster causing a large-scale water outage, these wells can be used as alternative water sources.

Following the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, water from wells and springs was used as it took time to restore the regular water supply. This situation highlighted the usefulness of such water sources and prompted the medium-term plan for disaster resilience, approved by the Cabinet in June, in which was set the goal of having alternative water sources in all municipalities by fiscal 2030.

According to an initial survey conducted by the central government in November and December last year, only 473 of the 1,741 municipalities nationwide have disaster wells, and only 349 municipalities had residents and business entities register their wells. A key to ensuring there are disaster wells nationwide therefore lies in finding and utilizing these privately owned wells.

The government will also promote the installation of new disaster wells. It plans to revise its guidelines for the use of underground water in the event of disaster by the end of the fiscal year and disseminate easy-to-understand information on the procedures for installing new wells to local governments.