Dams and reservoirs in China are numerous and have had a profound effect on the country's development and people. According to the

World Commission on Dams The World Commission on Dams (WCD) existed between April 1997 and 2001, to research the environmental, social and economic impacts of the development of large dams globally. The self-styled WCD consisted of members of civil society, academia, the ...

in 2000, there were 22,104 dams over the height of operating in China. Of the world's total large dams, China accounts for the most – of them; of which are used for irrigation. Accordingly, the oldest in China still in use belongs to the

Dujiangyan Irrigation System The Dujiangyan () is an ancient irrigation system in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan, China. Originally constructed around 256 BC by the State of Qin (state), Qin as an irrigation and flood control project, it is still in use today. The system's infrast ...

which dates back to 256 BC. In 2005, there were over 80,000 reservoirs in the country and over 4,800 dams completed or under construction that stands at or exceed in height. As of 2007, China is also the world's leader in the construction of large dams; followed by

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in third. The tallest dam in China is the

Jinping-I Dam The Jinping-I Dam () also known as the Jinping-I Hydropower Station or Jinping 1st Cascade, is a tall arch dam on the Jinping Bend of the Yalong River (Yalong Jiang) in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Liangshan, Sichuan, People's Republic of ...

at , an

arch dam An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengthen ...

, which is also the tallest dam in the world. The largest reservoir is created by the

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world ...

, which stores 39.3 billion m³ (31,900,000 acre feet) of water and has a surface area of . Three Gorges is also the world's largest power station. Dams and their associated reservoirs are constructed by the country for several reasons including

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power generation,

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

, irrigation, drought mitigation,

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

and tourism. China has the largest potential for hydropower in the world and currently ranks first in hydroelectric generating capacity with about 200,000 MW online. These benefits have come with adverse effects such as resettlement and inundation while impeding river flow often leads to habitat loss and on certain rivers there are issues with

trans-boundary river A transboundary river is a river that crosses at least one political border, either a border within a state or an international boundary. Bangladesh has the highest number of these rivers, including two of the world's largest rivers, the Ganges and ...

flow. The nation's leading institution for dam design is the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

-based China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR),About IWHR: Introduction
/ref> somewhat similar to Russia's

Hydroproject Hydroproject (russian: Институт «Гидропроект», Gidroproekt) is a Russian hydrotechnical design firm. Based in Moscow, it has a number of branches around the country. Its main activities are design of dams, hydroelectric stati ...

Institute. Below is a partial list of dams and reservoirs in China that are both operational and under construction. The most notable by height, type, and reservoir size, are among those listed. The minimum height for a dam to be included on the list is .

List

References

External links

Chinese National Committee on Large DamsMap of dams in China
–

Probe International Energy Probe is a non-governmental social, economic, and environmental policy organization based in Toronto, Canada known for climate change denial, denying man-made climate change. It was founded in 1970 as a sister project of Pollution Probe. In ...

{{China topics .01

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

List

See also

References

External links