News Drought affecting Lake Biwa

In Nagahama, a city in the northern part of Shiga Prefecture, a small island called Okunosu that usually can be seen near the shores of the lake has become a peninsula due to the low water levels. The rare sight has created a stir, with some saying it resembles the famed French monastery and UNESCO World Heritage site Mont Saint-Michel. The land ministry's Lake Biwako office of River announced that the average water level at 6 a.m. on 6 December was minus 70 centimetres, just 5 cm short of the standard required for the prefectural government to set up a drought task force. Precipitation in Otsu in the prefecture from July to November this year was about 30 per cent less than a normal year due to the continuation of favourable weather conditions this year, including fewer typhoons making landfall. According to the Kohoku Wild Birds Center in Nagahama, the small island is a habitat for birds.

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