Otone Irrigation Canal

This is agricultural water for the northeastern part of Chiba Prefecture, in the northern half of the Kujukuri Plain. Its intake was set up in Sasagawa, Tonosho Town, Katori County, downstream of the Tone River, and it is a large-scale water source that irrigates approximately 6,300 hectares of farmland north of the Kuriyama River by powered pumping. The Kujukuri Plain is a coastal plain with several rows of sand dunes that have developed, and there are wet rice fields with poor drainage, but at the same time, it has not been blessed with an irrigation water system, and has been subject to constant flooding and drought damage. In the mid-Edo period, the Tsubaki Sea reclamation project was carried out, and 80,000 koku of farmland was created in the tidal flats, but the accumulation of sediment in the new river that was dug for drainage continued, and the rice fields were forced to flood during heavy rains. At the end of the Taisho period, repairs were made to Shinkawa River, but they were not effective enough, so the subsequent severe drought prompted the idea of ​​drawing water from the Tone River, and construction began as a prefectural project in 1940. When it was completed in 1951, it provided a stable supply of water for agricultural use, and farmland was reorganized, increasing rice production, providing a great benefit to agriculture in the Kujukuri Plain.

[Yamamura Junji]

“Otone Irrigation Water Business History” by Toyo Kurihara (1958, Otone Irrigation History Compilation Committee)”

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

千葉県北東部、九十九里平野北半部の地域に引かれた農業用水。利根川下流の香取(かとり)郡東庄(とうのしょう)町笹川(ささがわ)に取水口を設け、動力揚水によって栗山(くりやま)川以北の農地約6300ヘクタールを灌漑(かんがい)する大規模な用水である。九十九里平野は海岸平野で数列の砂丘列が発達し、排水不良の湿田があると同時に、一方では灌漑水系に恵まれずに、絶えず水害と干害を引き起こしてきた。江戸中期に椿海干拓(つばきのうみかんたく)が行われ、干潟八万石(ひかたはちまんごく)の耕地が発生したが、排水用に掘られた新川の土砂の堆積(たいせき)が進み、豪雨のときは水田は冠水を余儀なくされた。大正末期に新川の改修工事がなされたが十分な効果をあげえず、その後の大干魃(かんばつ)を機に新たに利根川から引水することが考えられ、1940年（昭和15）に県営事業として着工。1951年（昭和26）に完成して安定した農業用水が供給され、耕地整理がなされて水稲生産力は高まり、九十九里平野の農業に多大の恩恵を与えた。

［山村順次］

『栗原東洋著『大利根用水事業史』（1958・大利根用水史編纂委員会）』

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