Tsuruda Dam

Overview

Tsuruda Dam is a 117.5-meter-high gravity concrete dam built on the middle reach of the Sendai River, a Class A river, in Satsuma Town, Satsuma District, Kagoshima Prefecture. Managed directly by the Kyushu Regional Development Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, it ranks among the largest completed government-managed gravity concrete dams in Kyushu.

Highlights

• ●A 117.5-meter-high gravity concrete dam
• ●A multipurpose dam serving flood control and hydroelectric power on the Sendai River
• ●A post-2006-flood redevelopment that expanded flood-control capacity by 1.3 times
• ●Lake Ōtsuru, selected in 2005 as one of Japan's 100 Selected Dam Lakes

History

Completed in 1965, the dam was built as a multipurpose facility for flood control and hydroelectric power generation on the Sendai River. After heavy rainfall in July 2006 caused significant flood damage along the river, a redevelopment project was carried out to expand the dam's flood-control capacity to 1.3 times its original level. The reservoir created by the dam is known as Lake Ōtsuru, and in terms of total storage capacity it ranks second in Japan, after the Hitotsuse Dam in Miyazaki Prefecture. In 2005, it was selected as one of Japan's "100 Selected Dam Lakes" by the Dam Water Source Region Environment Improvement Center.

Map

31.9887, 130.4939 · Wikidata

Suggested itinerary

1. 1Head to Tsuruda Dam along the Sendai River from within Satsuma Town
2. 2Take in the scale of the dam body from a viewing point
3. 3Enjoy the scenery around Lake Ōtsuru, the reservoir formed by the dam
4. 4Learn about the dam's flood-control and power-generation role at the management office

Did you know?

💡 Among completed government-managed gravity concrete dams in Kyushu, Tsuruda Dam ranks as the largest, and Lake Ōtsuru's total storage capacity is one of the largest in Japan, second only to the Hitotsuse Dam's reservoir.

Nearby spots