Thanks to rain over the weekend, Tokyo, its five neighboring prefectures and the land ministry decided Monday to temporarily ease water intake reductions, which started Friday morning and had been set at 10 percent.
Tokyo and the prefectures of Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba started cutting their water intake by 10 percent Friday due to decreased water levels at eight dams on the upper Tone River. Tokyo depends on the Tone River system for 75 percent of its water.
The decision to ease the reductions was due to take effect 9 a.m. today but may be overturned and followed with more cuts early next week if a lack of rain causes the level of impounded water to decline.
Reservoir levels, including at Yagisawa Dam in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, reached about 186.97 million tons, or 54 percent of capacity, as of 9 a.m. Monday, according to officials with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The latest figure represents an increase of 12.11 million tons, or 3 percentage points, from Friday, officials said.