Dongping Lake

Dongping Lake
Dongping Lake is located in Shandong
Dongping Lake
Dongping Lake
Coordinates35°57′53″N 116°11′45″E / 35.96472°N 116.19583°E / 35.96472; 116.19583
Lake typeFresh water lake
Primary inflowsDawen River
Primary outflowsYellow River
Catchment area9,064 km2 (3,500 sq mi)
Basin countriesChina
Max. length23.5 km (15 mi)
Max. width9.7 km (6 mi)
Surface area148 km2 (100 sq mi)
Average depth1.59 m (5 ft)
Max. depth2.4 m (8 ft)
Water volume235×10^6 m3 (8.3×10^9 cu ft)
Surface elevation41 m (135 ft)

The Dongping Lake (Chinese: ; pinyin: Dōngpíng Hú) is a freshwater lake in Shandong Province of China. It is situated in Dongping County in the west of Shandong Province, south of the lower reaches of Yellow River. The lake has a total area of about 148 square kilometers. The average depth is 1.59 m, the water storage capacity is about 2.35×108m3.[1]

The Dongping Lake is the second largest fresh-water lake in Shandong Province; it is the only extant water area of the Eight Hundred Li Liangshan Lake (Chinese: 八百里梁山水泊) described in the famous medieval novel, Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.[2][better source needed]

The Dongping Lake will be used as a reservoir on the Eastern Route of China's South–North Water Transfer Project. (The Yangtze River to Yellow River route, mostly piggybacking on, or paralleling, the Grand Canal of China.[3][4]) As the water transfer system entered its testing stage in the summer of 2013, the area's fish farmers started complaining that the polluted Yangtze River water entering the Dongping Lake is killing their fish.[5]

  1. ^ Sumin, Wang; Hongshen, Dou (1998). Lakes in China. Beijing: Science Press. p. 304. ISBN 7-03-006706-1.
  2. ^ www.chinakindnesstour.com
  3. ^ The map at the "Eastern Route Project (ERP) Archived 2015-06-28 at the Wayback Machine" page, on the official project site.
  4. ^ 南水北调东线工程对东平湖蓄水的影响及对策 Archived November 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Chinese Water Diversion Project Kills Fish on Test Run, 2013-07-08