It is a gravity dam made of concrete, operated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Kantō Regional Development Bureau, built to a height of 67.0 metres.

However, during initial impoundment (in which the dam is partially filled to test for abnormalities), leakage through the bedrock on the left bank was discovered, and Gunma Prefecture requested repairs from the Ministry of Construction.

It maintains customary water rights of 140 tons per second for irrigation water (with unspecified usage permissions) to the city of Kuki in Saitama Prefecture, and also creates energy via the Aimata electricity generation plant, with a permitted output of 7,300 kW, and the Momono electricity generation plant, with a permitted output of 6,200 kW.

In 2005, it was designated by the Water Resources Environment Engineering Center as one of Japan's "Selected 100 Dam Lakes" after recommendation from the city of Minami.

However, in the 1980s, droughts had begun to occur at a rate of once every two-to-three years, accompanied by a lack of rainfall, both attributed to the effects of global warming.

A construction feasibility study was carried out in 1990, after which the initial plans were altered to increase the height of the dam to 160.0 meters and the flood control storage to 76,000,000 tons.

Water demand eventually shrank, and as the necessity of Kawafuru Dam was called into question the construction project was put on hold for an indefinite period of time.