The design work for the canal was advanced by Sakuro TANABE, a graduate of the Imperial College of Engineering (later Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo) and an engineer of Kyoto Prefecture; it was completed in four years and eight months of major construction works.
疏水の設計は工部大学校（後の東京大学工学部）を卒業した京都府技師の田辺朔郎が進め、4年8ヶ月の大工事で完成させた。