Aburagi Dam - Purpose

Purpose

Aburagi Dam is used for flood control, unspecified water utilization, and tap water provision, as well as industrial water provision and hydroelectricity generation, making the dam's purposes numerous even among multi-purpose dams.

• Flood control: Using (prevention of) the June 1953 Kitakyūshū Flood as a flood control standard, Aburagi Dam enables floodwaters at 870 tons of water per second across the city of Saikawa to be cut by 260 tons per second, reducing the floodwater amount to 610 tons per second.

• Unspecified water utilization: The dam allows for the necessary water provision amount under customary water right levels across the Imagawa River basin, allowing for irrigation to cover 1,164 hectares of farmland.

• Tap water: According to the Kitakyushu City Waterworks Bureau, the dam provides Kitakyūshū with 85,000 tons of tap water per day; the city of Yukihashi and the town of Kanda are each provided with 20,000 tons of water per day.

• Industrial water: The dam provides the Kyōto district industrial region with 25,000 tons of water per day.

• Hydroelectricity: The Aburagi electric generation plant was built to utilize the water supply sent to Kitakyūshū, and is rated to produce 780 kilowatts, on par with other low-head hydro-power generators. This last purpose was added later after the recommendation from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry—which administers electrical power generation—to further adoption of small-scale hydroelectric energy.

Based on these objectives, Aburagi Dam—along with Rikimaru Dam, Masubuchi Dam, the Tonda Reservoirs #1 and #2, Hata Dam, and Matsugae Dam—contributes to Kitakyūshū's water storage. Aburagi Dam, the Ongagawa River estuary barrage, Heisei Ozeki Dam, Yamakunigawa River's Yabakei Dam and other government-controlled dams provide a stable supply of water to Kitakyūshū and the Kitakyūshū Industrial Zone.

More recently, however, serious water shortages have occurred with more frequency as a result of intense heat, rainless rainy seasons, and the natural Setonaikai climate. Aburagi Dam has frequently been put under water restrictions; in response to these shortages, the Irahara Dam on the upper stream of the Haraigawa River (which is adjacent to the east of Imagawa River) is currently being constructed. The municipalities of the Keichiku region and Tagawa have been given priority water usage rights, as they have lacked any other large water source amid water shortages of recent years. During water shortages, the amount of water sent to Kitakyūshū is heavily cut and redirected to the undersupplied Keichiku region, but this is not a fundamental solution to the water shortage issue.