Isawa River

The Isawa River (Isawagawa) is a river in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. For about half its length it marks the border between Kanegasaki Town and Ōshū City. The river's origin is in the Ōu Mountains just west of Mt. Yakeishi (1548 meters). At its highest point it is called the Sugiyachi Stream (Sugiyachizawa) and flows south until it crosses National Route 397. There it turns west and follows 397 until it is stopped by the Ishibuchi Dam. In 2013 a new dam was scheduled to be completed a little downstream called the Isawa Dam. When this dam is completed the Ishibuchi Dam and reservoir will be completely flooded. Many local residents are opposed to the construction of such a large dam as the water is being impounded to provide drinking and irrigation water for use in other places. Another fear is that the great weight of the water will trigger an earthquake destroying the dam and causing a major flood. One worker on the new dam was killed by a rockslide in the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earthquake. The Isawa River continues its course to the east-northeast until it empties into the Kitakami River in Mizusawa Ward, Ōshū.

Flows through: Japan.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.