After the army of former Edo bakufu was defeated in Hokuetsu War, the watershed villagers submitted a petition for the commencement of the diversion construction to new Meiji government, and the plan was finally approved in 1869 on the stringent condition that 600,000-ryo out of the total construction cost 800,000-ryo be paid by the local communities.
北越戦争により旧幕府軍が敗退すると、流域の村々は新政府側に分水工事着工の嘆願書を提出し、1869年（明治2年）にようやく着工が認められたが、総工費80万両のうち60万両が地元負担という厳しいものとなった。