The Cabinet Secretariat reported on the agenda of the Inter-ministerial Working Group Meeting on Drought Countermeasures held on July 31, 2025.
The Inter-ministerial Working Group Meeting on Drought Countermeasures was held via web from 15:30 to 16:00 on Thursday, July 31, 2025, with the agenda and distributed materials being made public. This meeting was held for the purpose of understanding the national drought situation and examining countermeasures through cooperation between related ministries and agencies.
Meeting Agenda Content
The meeting addressed four major agenda items: first, a report on the national drought situation by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; second, agricultural water drought situation and responses by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; third, water supply drought situation and responses by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and fourth, discussions on national precipitation conditions and future outlook by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Corresponding distributed materials were prepared for each agenda item. Material 1 provided detailed reports by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on the national drought situation, showing regional water resource stress and river flow trends. Material 2 explained agricultural water drought situations and countermeasures by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, compiling impacts on agricultural production, water conservation measures, and alternative water source securing strategies.
Water Supply and Meteorological Information
Material 3 reported on water supply drought situations and responses by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, organizing countermeasures including impacts on water supply, implementation status of intake restrictions, and water conservation requests to residents. Material 4 provided precipitation conditions and future outlook by the Japan Meteorological Agency, conducting drought risk assessment based on weather forecasts and identifying regions requiring vigilance.
Government Drought Countermeasure System
This meeting is positioned as the working group of the Inter-ministerial Meeting on Drought Countermeasures led by the Cabinet Secretariat, serving as an important framework where related ministries and agencies including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Japan Meteorological Agency cooperate to monitor national drought conditions and discuss necessary countermeasures. Particularly during periods when increased summer water demand coincides with decreased precipitation, appropriate water resource management and allocation, and emergency response measure examination are conducted.
The article concludes that the government comprehensively understands national drought conditions through close cooperation between related ministries and agencies, promoting appropriate drought countermeasures in various fields including agriculture, water supply, and industrial water.