Received an order from Ishigaki Agricultural Water Management Office, Okinawa General Bureau to renew pumps of Futamata Pumping Station [Orders Received in November 2024]

Ishigaki Island is located 400 km southwest of the main island of Okinawa. With its white beach and emerald green sea, it is a famous tourist destination. Sugarcane, paddy-field rice, vegetables, and fruit have always been produced in the warm climate of the island, but in recent years branded beef, Ishigaki Beef, is gaining popularity, so the importance of pasture grass is increasing.

Water resources are critically important for such livestock farming and agriculture. The annual rainfall of Ishigaki Island is over 2,000 mm, but most of it is brought by the rainy season and typhoons. The short river also releases the rainfall to the sea too quickly for effective irrigation. This environment forces agriculture to rely on rainwater and makes the area prone to drought during years with low rainfall. In 1971, a severe drought caused serious damage including most crops drying out, cows dying of starvation, and a shortage of drinking water.

To solve such water problems, a government- and prefecture-operated drainage project began in 1975 as a permanent water management project. In this project, five irrigation dams and water management facilities that take water from Mount Omoto, the highest mountain in the prefecture, were built. This project established stable supply of agricultural water and has been mitigating flood damage in the lower basin since.

In this construction work, two pumps of Futamata Pumping Station, which pump agricultural water obtained from Miyara River to Futamata Reservoir (farm pond), will be renewed. As this facility was built about 40 years ago and has deteriorated over time, its agriculture water pumping capacity has degraded. This renewal will restore and enhance the equipment functionality, and is expected to improve farmers’ work efficiency and expand production of high-value products such as sugarcane, pineapples, and Ishigaki Beef that are specialties of Ishigaki Island.