Page 235 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Güler Demir

areas (Taghawi, 2019). Still in use today, this floodwater management system
has made the region a rare location where river farming is continuously
practiced. Water harvesting in the Middle East is practiced under three
main headings: 1) Rainwater Harvesting 2) Floodwater Harvesting and 3)
Groundwater Harvesting.

2.3 Asia

Since the early 1980s, the local governments in Japan have been promoting
rainwater harvesting as an effective recycling method to tackle water scarcity
and urban flooding issues. Since then, rainwater harvesting has been actively
used in large public and private buildings thanks to special funding programs
provided by local municipalities. Over the past 40 years, the number of water
harvesting systems in Japan has significantly increased with government
subsidies, and by the end of 2012, there were much more systems installed
compared to the year, 1990. About 30% of these systems, situated in schools
and university buildings, have a tank capacity varying between 8 to 1000 m³,
while 15 % of them with a tank capacity of maximum 1500 m³, are situated
in public buildings. In individual homes, rainwater harvesting systems with a
capacity of generally less than 1 m³ are commonly used. The Great East Japan
Earthquake in 2011 caused a sudden increase in the installation of rainwater
storage systems for emergencies in homes (Campisano et al., 2017).
In recent years water harvesting in South Korea, has been reconsidered
especially in developed urban areas as an adaptation strategy against extreme
climate events. There is more emphasis on large-scale water harvesting
projects (Han & Mun, 2011). Additionally, in South Korea, discussions are
underway about promoting programs that save energy through the domestic
use of rainwater.
In Thailand, cost-efficient application of water harvesting systems is
promoted. “The Thai government has launched a comprehensive national
water harvesting program with jar tank systems of various capacities (0.1-3
m³). Established in many villages to provide drinking water, these systems
collect rainwater for up to six months for domestic use during the dry season
(Wirojanagud & Vanvarothorn, 1990).
In China’s Gansu Province, a water harvesting demonstration project carried
out in recent years has achieved successful results (Gould et al., 2014). By the
year 2000, the project had constructed over 245 rainwater reservoirs with a
total capacity of 73 million m³, providing drinking water to nearly 2 million
people and additional irrigation for more than 230,000 hectares. Following
this achievement, 17 provinces adopted water harvesting systems starting in

222 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate