Irrigation and Drainage Facilities Research Team

In order to ensure a stable supply of food, it is necessary to ensure that irrigation and drainage infrastructure is maintained and managed properly. Therefore, the team develops methods for diagnosing deterioration induced by frost damage and highly durable repair technologies that are applicable to the irrigation and drainage infrastructures under the severe conditions of cold regions where concrete is prone to freeze-thawing action.

Some upland field areas in Hokkaido are at a high risk of water erosion, because the flow of rainfall and snowmelt water is likely to concentrate in a large-sized area and erodible volcanic ash soil is distributed in some areas. Therefore, the team proposes technologies for controlling sediment yield in large-scale upland field areas for the purpose of conserving the function of drainage canals and small rivers.

In snowy cold regions where snow is an important water resource, changes in snow precipitation and snowmelt season due to climate variations have great impacts. For this reason, the team is working to elucidate the influence of climate variations on the demand and supply of agricultural water, and develop water management technologies for a stable water supply.