13. Yuqiao Reservoir – China
According to the International Lake Environment Committee (ILEC), the Yuqiao Reservoir has a surface area of 250 km2.
As we’re talking about China, not much is known about this reservoir. All we can say for certain is that the Yuqiao Reservoir, the number 13 in our list of largest artificial lakes in Asia, was built in the district of Jizhou, Tianjin, North of China, on the Jiyun He river in the 1960s. However, soon after the end of its construction, problems started to appear as the Yuqiao dam was built on sandy soil and water seeped through, forcing local populations to be displaced. Today, the quality of the water that the dam is supposed to provide for the 6 million people living in the area is a big concern.
12. Toktogul Reservoir – Kyrgyzstan
According to its Wikipedia’s article, the Toktogul Reservoir has a surface area of 284.3 km2.
Built on the Naryn River, in 1976, in the Jalal-Abad province of Kyrgyzstan, this dam is the center of many problems. In 2009, it reached a crisis state when its water levels came to be at a fraction of what they should be. Water management in the region is getting heated and dams like the Toktogul are becoming more and more of a problem being built on a river spanning multiple countries. Moreover, the Toktogul dam is part of a larger problem of dams reducing the flow of water going to the Aral Sea.
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