Abstract
The Japanese government started to construct two subsurface dams on Miyako Island in 1988, and the project was completed in 2001. Before the construction of the dams, the NO3-N concentration of groundwater on the island was about 10 mg/l, the upper limit for drinking water in Japan, owing to the application of fertilizer to sugarcane fields. Predicting the effect of these subsurface dams on the groundwater environment was difficult because they were probably the first mega-subsurface dams in the world. We measured the NO3-N concentration in the groundwater at observation wells before and after construction of the Sunagawa Dam and after the groundwater began to be used. We also measured the NO3-N concentration monthly at a typical observation well in the catchment over a period 14 years to evaluate the environmental impact of construction of the dam. The highest NO3-N concentrations were downstream before completion of the subsurface dam, and a high NO3-N concentration zone remained around the cut-off wall after its completion, but this high-concentration zone disappeared and the distribution of NO3-N became uniform after pumping of the groundwater began. Overall, the NO3-N concentration decreased gradually. These results show that the groundwater quality did not deteriorate as a result of the construction of the Sunagawa Subsurface Dam.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beven K, Germann PP (1982) Macropores and water flow in soils. Water Resour Res 18:1311–1325
Foster SSD, Smith-Carington A (1980) The interpretation of tritium in the chalk unsaturated zone. J Hydrol 46:343–364
Hanson G, Nilsson A (1986) Ground-water dams for rural-water supplies in developing countries. Groundwater 24(4):497–506
Hori K, Kayane H (2000) Submarine morphology of the island shelf off the middle and south Ryukyu Islands, southwest Japan (in Japanese). Geograph Rev Jpn 73A-3:161–181
Hosotani H, Ito Y (1986) A new hydrolographical model for the unconfined groundwater basin (in Japanese). J Jpn Soc Eng Geol 27(2):53–60
Imaizumi M, Maekawa T, Nagata J, Tomita T (1988) Hydrogeological simulation of Miyakojima Island subsurface dam plan (in Japanese). J JAGH 30:11–23
Imaizumi M, Okushima S, Shiono T, Takeuchi M, Komae T (2002) Soil water intrusion into a Ryukyu rimestone aquifer in Komesu underground dam basin southern part of Okinawa Island (in Japanese). Trans JSIDRE 221:11–23
Ishida S, Kotoku M, Abe E, Fazal MA, Tsuchihara T, Imaizumi M (2003) Construction of subsurface dams and these impact on the environment. RMZ Materials Geoenvironment 50(1):149–152
Ishida S, Hara I, Tsuchihara T, Imaizumi M (2005) Evaluation of the drainage effect by drain tunnel in tertiary mudstone landslide area using a neutron moisture logging and environmental isotopes in groundwater (in Japanese). Landslides 41(5):467–474
Japan Green Resources Corporation (JGRC) (2001) Report on an Agricultural Land Conservation Project in the Miyako Region
Kimura S (1971) Study of groundwater flow by tritium concentration in water (in Japanese). Bull Natl Res Inst Agric Eng 9:1–46
Kondo H, Tase N, Hirata T (1997) Nitrogen isotope ratio of nitrate of groundwater in Miyako Island Okinawa Prefecture (in Japanese). J JAGH 39(1):1–15
Legrand HE, Stringfield VT (1971) Development and distribution of permeability in carbonate aquifers. Water Resour Res 7(5):1284–1294
Nagata S, Enami N, Nagata J, Katho T (1993) Design and construction of cutoff walls for subsurface dams on Amami and Ryukyu Islands in the most southwestern part of Japan. Hydrogeol Select Papers 4:229–245
Nakanishi Y (2001) Correlation between actual fertilizing to sugarcane and nitrate concentration in groundwater of Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan (in Japanese). J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 72:499–504
Okinawa General Bureau (1982) Hydrogeological map of Miyakojima Island (in Japanese)
Peterson EW, Davis RK, Brahana JV, Orndorff HA (2002) Movement of nitrate through regolith covered karst terrane, northwest Arkansas. J Hydrol 256:35–47
Smith DB, Downing RA, Monkhouse RA, Otlet RL, Pearson FJ (1976) The age of groundwater in the chalk of the London basin. Water Resour Res 12(3):392–404
Takashima Y (1991) Environmental tritium—Its behavior and utilization (in Japanese). Radioisotopes 40:520–530
Tashiro Y, Takahira K (2001) Long term trend of nitrogen emission and nitrogen concentration of groundwater in Miyako Island, Okinawa (in Japanese). J JSWE 24(11):733–738
Toth J (1963) A theoretical analysis of groundwater flow in small drainage basins. J Geophys Res 68(16):4795–4812
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ishida, S., Tsuchihara, T. & Imaizumi, M. Fluctuation of NO3-N in groundwater of the reservoir of the Sunagawa Subsurface Dam, Miyako Island, Japan. Paddy Water Environ 4, 101–110 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-006-0037-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-006-0037-7