Luhun Lake 陆浑湖

About Luhun Lake

The Yi River is a second-order tributary of the Yellow River, and the dam here controls a catchment of 3,492 square kilometres, some 57.9 per cent of the Yi basin. Luhun is classed as a large type-one reservoir and is one of Luoyang's five large reservoirs; within Henan its storage capacity is exceeded only by Xiaolangdi and Yahekou. It works for flood control, irrigation, power generation and water supply at once, and the surrounding Luhun scenic area covers about 60 square kilometres. Most of the sediment carried by the river passes through during the flood season between July and October, and outside that period the water runs clear.

The lake has been managed increasingly as habitat. Cage fish farming, which filled the water surface in the 1990s, was cleared out completely in 2016 and 2017; Song County now follows what it calls a water-protection fishery, stocking roughly 200 to 300 tonnes of filter-feeding silver carp and bighead carp a year so that the fish draw nutrients out of the water. A wetland restoration scheme covering 1,147.17 hectares has been completed, and the site is designated the Henan Luhun Lake National Wetland Park with its own management centre.

What to look for

• The breadth of the impoundment itself, a water surface reported at 54,600 mu set among hills.
• Waterbirds recorded by the wetland park's monitoring programme, which runs at least twice a week and has logged rare species including the black stork and the scaly-sided merganser.
• The restored wetland margins, part of a 1,147.17-hectare restoration scheme around the lake.
• The contrast between flood-season and dry-season water: over 90 per cent of the river's sediment passes between July and October, and the river runs clear outside that window.
• The dam and its works, part of a large type-one reservoir that combines flood control, irrigation, power generation and water supply.

Location & getting there

Getting to Luhun Lake

Confirm the visitor entrance and which boat or walking routes operate on your date. Rainfall, water levels and weather can change access.

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