The 2024 River Ecology Academic Research Group Chikuma River Field Trip was held!

A field trip to the research area of the Chikuma River and Shinano River Research Group (represented by Professor Hiroshi Hakoyama), which is part of the River Ecology Academic Research Group, was held on October 17 and 18. More than 50 people participated in the research, including members of the parent committee of the River Ecology Academic Research Group, members of the research group and related departments of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the Riverfront Research Institute as the secretariat. This project research, funded by the River Ecology Research Fund of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, focuses on the effects of river fragmentation on fish populations and communities. We are studying the fragmentation of the Shinano River by large dams and other structures throughout the river, and the fragmentation of the main river, tributaries, and irrigation canals by relatively small weirs. During this tour, we compared the Miyanaka Water Intake Dam and the small weirs at the Institute of Freshwater Biology, and also visited construction sites (Kamiimai Reservoir, etc.) for river basin flood control projects being implemented by the Chikuma River Office (photo). The primary goal of the Chikuma River and Shinano River Research Group is academic research, and the results will be useful for the river basin flood control projects conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.