headwaters

[ hed-waw-terz, -wot-erz ]

/ ˈhɛdˌwɔ tərz, -ˌwɒt ərz /

Sometimes headwater. the upper tributaries of a river.

Origin of headwaters

1525–35; head + waters, plural of water

Picture this: soldiers from a foreign army are stationed near the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

United Nations Still Denies its Troops Brought Cholera to Haiti |Jonathan M. Katz |April 4, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
After a highly successful trip I returned home the same day the Grass reached the headwaters of the Mississippi.

Greener Than You Think |Ward Moore
Many of the distinctively Northern fishes are found in the headwaters of the Wabash and the Scioto.

A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2) |David Starr Jordan
Soon we struck the road and followed it until we came to the headwaters of Miller's Creek on the right.

The Lake of the Sky |George Wharton James

The headwaters of the main arm of the Tigris have their source in the vilayet.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 |Various
It was evening before she came to the headwaters of the Old Crow, and rode out into the gorge between the two mountains.

Riders of the Silences |John Frederick

headwaters

/ (ˈhɛdˌwɔːtəz) /

the tributary streams of a river in the area in which it rises; headstreams