Sekikawa Suikei Land Improvement District
andThe Levy Reduction/Exemption System Applied to Kyakusui Area

- History of 340 years Beyond many hardships to this day

Sekikawa-suikei
Land Improvement District

Construction of 2 main canals
Nakae Irrigation Canal １６７３ - １６７５

Publicproject
Edo era (app. 17-19C)
Public work by local governor
Maintained by public fundUwae Irrigation Canal

１５７３ - １７８１

Farmers’
endeavor
The Age of provincial wars
Constructed by 3 projects
taking 130 years
Fund and labor by farmers
themselves

Background of Kyakusui area
Farmers in upstream site

Farmers in downstream site

The wide canal of 14 m
breadth is unwelcomed.
Because farmlands decrease.

We’ll incur all your water due
We need your cooperation toexpand the canal to the
農民の苦労
downstream site.

We are pleased to accept the suggestion ofdownstream farmers. Let’s do it together.

Location map of Kyakusui area
Another
Kyakusui area
242 haCurrently LID manages

Kyakusui area of Nakae
231.3 haSekikawa-River

Nakae irrigation canal

Kyakusui area of Uwae
337.5 haUwae irrigation canal

Sekikawa-suikei LID’s
management area

The history of Kyakusui area
- 1600s
Construction of Uwae
Irrigation canal（1573～1648）（1650～1694）

1800s

1700s

2000s -1900s（1772～1781）

Construction of Nakae
Irrigation canal（1673～1675）

The Kyakusui
system began

1874 Subsidy was abolished1890 Enactment of Water Uses Association Code1908 Enactment of Water Uses Association Act
1949 Enactment of Land Improvement Act

2005
Consolidation
ofmunicipalities

2008
Agreement
Signing

2006
Integration of LIDs

（Sekikawa-suikei LID came into being)

Transformed
to a leading food producing area in JapanThe area furtherly developed by hydropower
generation utilizing irrigation water

The historic signing ceremony of agreement
26 March, 2006

Memorandum of Understanding
regarding Levy in Kyakusui areas
Sekikawa-suikei Land Improvement District (hereinafter refered to as “the first party”) and Kyakusui areas
including Itakura area (hereinafter referred to as “the second party”) assume and agree the matters regarding levy
as follows;
1. The first party respects the right of Kyakusui and appreciates the affluent water attributes to the provided sites
by the second party in Edo era.
2. The first party entails 50% of levy in general areas (which indicate the areas except for Kyakusui areas) to thesecond party. This proportion shall be stipulated in the articles of incorporation of the first party. The first party
and the second party shall agree in the event of changing the proportion.
3. Any question arising out of, or in connection with, this MoU or any matter not stipulated herein shall be settled
each time upon consultation between both parties in the case the Land Improvement Act does not stipulates.
26th March, 2008

2 main canals managed by
upstream and downstream people together
Uwae Irrigation canal

Digging through the mountain toconstruct the canal (1810)

The canal tunnel after a largescale renovation (1931)

Nakae Irrigation canal

Nakae irrigation canal used tobe earthen canal around 1940

Nakae irrigation canal becamestone masonry canal in 1952

Canal management in mountainous
area is still a hard work(2016)
Cherry trees are planted along thecanal running through the Uwae
irrigation canal memorial park

Nakae irrigation canal was changed to concrete
canal after a large-scale national project in 1980

New history with Kyakusui area
Mass media

Heritage Irrigation Structures
Mass media
played up theagreement.
“New historywith a strongbond”

Prize-giving for
distinguished service of water resource
August, 2009
The Ministry of Land ,Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism
awarded the prize to
Sekikawa-suikei LID.

October, 2015
Uwae Irrigation canal (including Kyakusuiarea system) was registered as the Heritage
Irrigation Structures.

The socio-economic development
The Brand rice "KOSHIHIKARI"
big production area

Co-existence and co-prosperity
with water power generations
Laid the foundation of Joetsu regional industry

In 1939, irrigation water
began to flow down
through the hydropowerplant■Rice harvest (2015)
Total Japan: 7,989,000 tons
Total Niigata Prefecture: 619,200 tons
(the most of the 47 prefectures country-wide)
Jouetsu City: 59,500 tons
(across 11,200 hectares),to which the Nakae Irrigation Canal contributes 2,451 hectares,
and the Uwae Irrigation Canal, 2,367 hectares.

２５，６００tons （４３％）

Invited and established factories• Many factories were invited and established8 out of 11 large factories with 400 employees wereestablished in 1962
• 《steel/nonferrous metal industry》 5 factories
Manganese alloy, enameled wires, special steels, stainlesssteels, drill, etc.
• 《chemical industry》 3 factories
Soda chlorine compound, acetic acid compound,
Nitrogenous lime fertilizer

The position of chemical industry in Joetsu region
Shipment from the chemical industry in Joetsu in 1965
was 427 million dollars, which was 52.2% of the grossshipment from Niigata prefecture.