Zhongshan Reservoir

Overview

Zhongshan Reservoir lies on the upper Yigan River in the south-east of Lishui District. Work began in November 1957 and the reservoir filled in May 1959; its catchment is 32.28 sq km and its total capacity 2731 10,000 m³. These four facts come from the People's Government of Lishui District's reply to a proposal by a people's congress deputy (November 2023).

Which capacity is meant: reservoir capacity is reckoned in several ways, total, flood control, usable and dead. The reply gives only the total capacity for this reservoir, so this entry gives only the total; it does not give figures under the other measures, and it does not shorten "total capacity" to "capacity". Where the figures given in the reply differ from the water authority's formal annual report, the annual report prevails. The district website's "Natural Resources" page describes the district's reservoirs only in general terms, recording that the district has medium-sized reservoirs including Zhongshan Reservoir, lying on the upper reaches of the Yigan River and other watercourses; capacity and construction dates are incomplete on that page.

The reservoir is medium-sized: the district government's natural resources page records six medium-sized reservoirs in the district, namely Fangbian, Zhongshan, Wolongshan, Laoyaba, Yaojia and Zheshantou. It is also called Zhongshan Lake, and the Jiangsu Provincial Local Gazetteers Office records that Zhongshan Lake was formerly Zhongshan Reservoir, built in 1957, that it takes in the springs of Donglu Mountain and that it is the landmark lake at the source of the Qinhuai; Zhongshan Lake in that text and Zhongshan Reservoir in water bureau usage are one and the same water body.

Area: the Nanjing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau's register, entered on 14 June 2024, records a water-flow area of 403.33 ha for the registered unit Zhongshan Reservoir, and that is the figure used here, 4.0333 sq km. It is the area of the water-flow range on the confirmed registration basis and is not the same thing as the reservoir's designed water surface; no figure for the designed water surface has been found.

The reservoir belongs to the Qinhuai basin. Towns and subdistricts: no official source has been found stating which township Zhongshan Reservoir lies in; the 2018 annual implementation plan for water pollution prevention records that the assessment unit for the Zhongshan Reservoir cross-section is Yongyang Subdistrict, and this entry's township follows that, pending a second source.

Formation and change

The dates of construction and filling, November 1957 and May 1959, come from the district's reply to the congress proposal. On its water source, the gazetteers record that Zhongshan Lake takes in the springs of Donglu Mountain and is the landmark lake at the source of the Qinhuai; the Donglu Mountain entry records three springs there, one of which feeds the Qinhuai.

Relation to the river: the Yigan River rises at Zhongshan Reservoir, runs through Lishui District and Jiangning District, and joins the Sangan River at the Wangjiawei ferry before flowing into the Lishui River (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources, 3 July 2023). Zhongshan Reservoir is the source of the Yigan River.

Drinking water: in 2003 Fangbian Reservoir was designated a drinking water source water function area by the provincial government (Nanjing Municipal People's Government, 5 December 2023); the list of drinking water sources in the 2018 annual implementation plan includes the Lishui District Fangbian, that is Dongping, Reservoir source, and the same document records Yongyang Subdistrict as the assessment unit for the Zhongshan Reservoir cross-section; the 14th Five-Year Water Plan records that the work of bringing the Zhongshan and Fangbian reservoir drinking water sources up to standard is being consolidated and that the Lishui District Fangbian Reservoir Safety Assurance Plan and the Lishui District Zhongshan Reservoir Safety Assurance Plan are being put into effect.

No first-tier source has been found for the reservoir's successive reinforcement works, the desilting of the reservoir area or resettlement, so nothing is written here.

Landscape and visiting

Zhongshan Lake is the landmark lake at the source of the Qinhuai, taking in the springs of Donglu Mountain, on the gazetteers' account; Donglu Mountain and Zhongshan Lake are the two landmarks at the source of the Qinhuai in the wording of the district government website and the provincial local gazetteers office.

No first-tier source has been found for public visiting, a footpath around the lake, viewing facilities or tickets at Zhongshan Reservoir, that is Zhongshan Lake. The reservoir is a centralised drinking water source, and visiting information should follow the official notices of the district water department, the district culture and tourism department and the local subdistrict. Opening information is current to September 2026.

Open questions

• Area: this entry uses the water-flow area of 403.33 ha, 4.0333 sq km, on the confirmed registration basis. The register notes that this is the water-flow range of the registered unit and is not the same thing as the reservoir's designed water surface; no figure for the designed water surface has been found, and the two may not stand in for one another.
• The catchment area of 32.28 sq km is the area that drains to the reservoir and is not the same concept as the water-flow area of 4.0333 sq km; the two must not be used interchangeably.
• Zhongshan Lake and Zhongshan Reservoir are one and the same water body. This entry takes the water bureau name Zhongshan Reservoir as its title and explains the gazetteers' Zhongshan Lake in the body.
• Capacity has four forms: total, flood control, usable and dead. Only the total capacity of 2731 10,000 m³ has been found here; no figures for the flood control, usable or dead capacity have been found, so none is given.
• The township has no direct source: this entry's township follows the cross-section assessment unit in the 2018 annual implementation plan, Yongyang Subdistrict. That is a division of work, not a formal statement of the township the reservoir lies in, and a second source is awaited.
• The number of medium-sized reservoirs in the district is given as six (district government natural resources page) and as seven (14th Five-Year Water Plan); the latter does not name them, and this site does not supply a name for the seventh.
• This entry was formed by merging the Lishui History site entry "Zhongshan Reservoir" into it; that entry rested on two sources only, the district reply and the district natural resources page, and was the thinner of the two. Both covered one and the same reservoir, so under the one-place-one-entry principle it is now kept here and the history site entry is no longer published on its own.
• No first-tier source has been found for the type and length of the dam, the design flood standard or the extent of the irrigation district, so nothing is written about them.