高原明珠——抚仙湖 Amazing Fuxian Lake

Fuxian Lake belongs to the Nanpanjiang branch of Zhujiang River Basin. It is an important part of China’s Three Shields and Two Belts ecological security pattern, and is hailed as the eye of Yuxi, the calling card of Yunnan, and a national treasure.

The southern part of Fuxian Lake is connected to Xingyun Lake by a 2.5-kilometer-long river. As the largest lake at the source of Zhujiang River. It boasts the best water quality and the largest water storage capacity among inland freshwater lakes in China, and its overall water quality has remained excellent for a long time.

The total length of its shoreline is about 100.8 kilometers, with a drainage basin area of 674.69 square kilometers, of which the land area is 458.09 square kilometers and the water area is 216.6 square kilometers. It has an average depth of 95.2 meters and a maximum depth of 158.9 meters, ranking the second among deep freshwater lakes in China. The average water transparency ranges from 5 to 6 meters, with a maximum of 12.5 meters.

Its minimum operating water level is 1721.65 meters and maximum storage water level is 1723.35 meters (based on the 1985 National Elevation Datum). The maximum water storage capacity can reach 20.62 billion cubic meters, accounting for 68.3% of the total storage capacity of key plateau lakes in Yunnan Province and 9.2% of that of freshwater lakes nationwide.

There are 21 major inflow rivers in the basin, along with a 7.85-kilometer regulation and storage zone with a storage capacity of 453,000 cubic meters, and 93 wetlands covering an area of 211.6 hectares.