The large-scale hydroelectricity-generating dam is managed directly by Chubu Electric Power, Co., and was built as part of the first step of a consistent development plan for the Hida River basin.

A large part of the Hida River basin consists of tight gorges formed by the Nakayama Shichiri Valley and the Hisui Ravine, which increase the speed of the water flow; the area also overlaps with the Hida and the rainy Kiso mountain ranges, providing the area with an abundance of water.

However, entering the Shōwa period and following the Manchurian Incident, Professor Mononobe Nagaho of Tokyo Imperial University leveraged his concurrent position as public works testing lab manager for the Home Ministry to forward the "Comprehensive River Development Project", which put the government in direct control of planning for flood prevention and water utilization, a move thought beneficial during wartime and approved by the military, bureaucrats and those at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.

After Japan's defeat in the Pacific War, the country's electric facilities were operating at only 60% of their normal output due to accidents related to overuse and damage from air raids; at the same time, home electricity usage—which had been under restriction due to the war—rapidly increased and outpaced supply.

Japan Electric Generation and Transmission Company recommenced its survey of Asahi Dam in January 1946, and in July 1949, gained permission from the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (the GHQ, General Headquarters) to begin full-scale construction.

The GHQ disagreed, insisting on the breakup of the company and pressing the government to adopt what the electric industry reorganization committee at the time put forth as the "nine-area partition plan".

Chūbu Electric Power followed up with a project for the entire Hida River basin, dubbed the "Integrated Watershed Development Plan".

At the time construction began on Asahi Dam, there were no special compensation plans for affected residents—like the Act on Special Measures concerning Measures Related to Water Resources Areas, or the Three Power Source Development Laws that exist today—and any compensation plans were largely dependent on businesses negotiating individual contracts with the government.

Asahi Dam was originally designed to be 72 meters tall, but in 1951 that figure was revised to 87 meters; in Ōno District's Takane Village (now part of Takayama City), an additional 33 residences would be submerged as a result of the height increase, which drew unanimous protests from residents there.

Compensation, movement allowances and land purchases were also approved for those whose houses would not be submerged, but whose livelihoods would nevertheless be adversely affected by the creation of the dam.

The construction plans for Maruyama Dam along the Kiso River that Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. had taken over after the breakup of Japan Electric Generation and Transmission Company were thus altered to make it a multi-purpose dam, ordered by the Ministry of Construction's Chūbu Regional Development Bureau (now the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism).

Updated plans raised height of the dam to 92.0 meters, increased the gross reservoir capacity by more than 9 million tons to 34,400,000 tons, and also lowered the electrical generation capabilities to 19,000 kilowatts, reapportioning some storage water for flood control and irrigation along the Nōbi Plain.

This made Asahi Dam the deadliest of all the projects under the Hida River Integrated Watershed Development Plan.

Demanding a quick fix to the turbidity problem, they took a hardline-stance by withdrawing all support for future hydroelectricity generation projects along the Hida River.

Chūbu Electric Power resorted to building a surface water intake facility at Asahi Reservoir.

This response brought the fishing cooperative back to the negotiation tables, but issues of compensation went unresolved, leading the fishing cooperative to first take legal measures to block the production of concrete aggregate used in the construction of the dam, and then declare their intention to use force to block further construction of Takane Dam#1.