日本統治臺灣期間，初期致力於秩序的安定及對台灣展開土地、資源等基礎調查，1900年前俊，台灣總督府確立了「農業台灣」的産業方針，以發展米、糖兩大作物爲原則。爲確實執行「米糖政策」，土地開關、水利建設、種籽改良、病蟲害防除和農具改善等相關條件就必須配合。以台灣的自然環境而論，「水利支配」封發展農業無疑是最重要的，整個日治時期的農業發展政策基本上是以水利爲重心。而過去台灣的水利設施都屬私人産業，其經營管理不是由類似今日公司的組織負責，就是由衆引水人共立合約字自主管理，不論是公司組織或衆人自主組織，都具有高度自治的性質。日人來臺之後，如何將私人産業的水利設施納爲公共財産並建立屬於總督府自己的水利事業，這是很值得探對的問題，本文以嘉南大圳爲例來看日治時期台灣水利事業的建立及運作遇程。

In the early period of Taiwan under Japanese occupation, the Japanese concentrated on keeping peace among the society and began the basic research upon lands and resources. Around 1900, Japanese General government in Taiwan established the "Agricultural Taiwan" industrial approach, which developed basically on rice and sugar. In order to pursue the "rice and sugar policy", all the concerned conditions, such as the development of the lands, the foundation of irrigation, the improvement of the seeds, the extinguishment of pests, and the advance of agricultural tools, must be cooperated. Judging from the natural environment of Taiwan, the control of irrigation is no doubt the most important one in developing agriculture, therefore the policy of agricultural development in the whole period of Japanese occupation basically focused on irrigation. In the past, the irrigation institutions were private as a whole, which management were either taken care by the corporations like today, or governed automatically by irrigators who signed together certain contracts; both were highly self-governing. The question about how the Japanese incorporated the irrigation facilities which belonged to the private possessions into public property and build the own irrigation business of General government after they came to Taiwan, is a subject worthwhile for research. This article takes Chia-nan Irrigation System as an example to examine the building and operation of Taiwan’s irrigation business in the period of Taiwan under Japanese occupation.