Photo/Illutration A sign warns against playing in water in front of a dried up pond in Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, on May 6. (Noboru Tomura)

MIZUNAMI, Gifu Prefecture—Water in wells and reservoirs have plummeted to alarming low levels in an area near tunnel construction work for the magnetic-levitation (maglev) Chuo Shinkansen Line, residents said.

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), which is building the high-speed rail line, confirmed falling water levels at 14 locations in the Okute district of Mizunami city in Gifu Prefecture.

At a briefing for residents on May 13, JR Tokai said it will take steps to secure alternative water sources and provide possible compensation while proceeding with the maglev project.

Residents in the Okute district said they noticed something unusual around March.

The groundwater in wells used for bathing, washing clothes and other daily chores began to gradually decrease at homes along an old road surrounded by rice paddies and forests, they said.

Some wells and reservoirs have completely dried up, and deep cracks have formed in the ground as if it had been exposed to the blazing sun for a long time, they said.

“I’ve never seen accumulated water dry up like this,” a resident in his 80s said.

Another resident in his 40s said, “Many people are anxious about water in the rice paddles.”

Although JR Tokai has not confirmed a causal relationship between its excavation work for the tunnel and the lower water levels, it has accepted responsibility.

“Since no other construction work is being done, we believe that the (drop in water levels) is due to the maglev construction work,” a representative of the company said.

During the May 13 briefing, JR Tokai said it would cover the costs of switching the Okute community’s water supply from groundwater to a different source.

The company also said it would dig new wells at two locations and install a water tank to secure alternative water source sites.

JR Tokai first confirmed a water-level drop in late February at an observation hole installed to gauge the environmental impact from the maglev construction work.

The company later placed gauges in wells and conducted a study that confirmed water levels had dropped in nine private wells and five water sources and reservoirs.

The Okute district is located between Nakatsugawa city, where a maglev station is expected to be built, and Nagoya, capital of neighboring Aichi Prefecture.

Construction of a 7.4-kilometer tunnel for the maglev line is under way in the Okute district, and digging has reached an area in front of where residents live.

The maglev line will connect Shinagawa in Tokyo and Nagoya. The trains will be able to cover the distance of about 285.6 km in 40 minutes at the fastest.

Around 86 percent of construction on the route is for tunnels.

(This article was written by Reo Komeda, Tetsuo Teranishi and Noboru Tomura.)

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