Abstract
The water management systems in channel network in the Saga Plains have a long history. The functions, drainage and irrigation etc., are gradually changing for 400 years with social systems such as modernizing of agriculture and urbanization etc. An integrated water management based on inhabitants' consciousness and water quality is necessary for environmental conservation. For the sake of appropriate environmental conservation of the creeks, 1) historical change of the water management is classified, 2) relationships between the change of water management and social systems are revealed, 3) inhabitants' consciousness is surveyed by the questionnaire. As a result, the change of water management is classified into three processes, that is, the developing process (-1600), the completion process (1600-1940), and the declining process due to water pollution (1940-present). From the result of the questionnaire, important experiences during childhood, such as drinking the water of creeks and swimming, influence inhabitants' consciousness viz, familiarity to the creeks. Especially, the influence appeared strongly on middle-aged inhabitants who were in childhood earlier in the third process. It is necessary to sustain the traditional experiences for conserving the environment.
