Largest freshwater lake in China, located in Jiangxi Province
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The area of Poyang Lake fluctuates dramatically between the wet and dry seasons, but in recent years the size of the lake has been decreasing overall. In a normal year the area of the lake averages 3,500 square kilometers (1,400 sq mi). In early 2012, drought, sand quarrying, and the practice of storing water at theThree Gorges Dam lowered the area of the lake to about 200 square kilometers (77 sq mi).[5] The lake provides a habitat for half a million migratory birds[6] and is a favorite destination forbirding.
During the winter, the lake becomes home to many migratingSiberian cranes, up to 90% of which spend the winter there.
Map including Poyang Lake (labeled as P'o-yang Hu鄱陽湖) (AMS, 1952)
Poyang Lake has also been called Pengli Lake (彭蠡澤) historically, but they are not the same. Before theHan dynasty, the Yangtze followed a more northerly course through what is nowLonggan Lake;Pengli Marsh formed the lower reaches of theGan River. The area that is now Poyang Lake was a plain along the Gan River. Around AD 400, the new more southerly course of the Yangtze River switched again, causing theGan River to further back up and form Lake Poyang. The lake was named forPoyang County, which it flooded along withHaihun County, forcing a mass migration toWucheng Township in what is nowYongxiu County. Wucheng thus became one of the great ancient townships ofJiangxi Province. This migration gave birth to the Chinese idiom, "Drowning Haihun County gives rise to Wucheng Township" (Chinese:淹了海昏縣，出了吳城鎭). Poyang was named for the earlier Po County of theQin dynasty, in turn named for the city of Poyi (番邑) in thestate ofChu.
Lake Poyang reached its greatest size during theTang dynasty, when its area reached 6,000 square kilometers (2,300 sq mi).[citation needed]
A fishing ban has been in place since 2002. In January 2020, China imposed a 10-year fishing moratorium on 332 sites along the Yangtze, including Poyang Lake to protect marine biodiversity.[7]
In 2007 fears were expressed that China'sfinless porpoise, locally known as thejiangzhu ("river pig"), a native of the lake along with other waters such asDongting Lake, might follow thebaiji, the Yangtze river dolphin, into extinction. Calls have been made for action to be taken to save the porpoise, of which there are about 1,400 left, with between 700 and 900 in the Yangtze, and another about 500 in Poyang andDongting Lakes. 2007 population levels are less than half the 1997 levels, and the population is dropping at a rate of 7.3 percent per year.
Sand dredging has become a mainstay of local economic development in the last few years, and is an important source of revenue in the region that borders Poyang Lake. But at the same time, high-density dredging projects have been the principal cause of the death of the local wildlife population. Dredging makes the waters of the lake muddier, and the porpoises cannot see as far as they once could, and have to rely on their highly developed sonar systems to avoid obstacles and look for food. Large ships enter and leave the lake at the rate of two per minute and such a high density of shipping means the porpoises have difficulty hearing their food, and also cannot swim freely from one bank to the other.[8]
Furthermore, construction ofPoyang Lake Dam is expected to cause devastating effects on the remaining porpoises.[9]
Due to theThree Gorges Dam upriver on theYangtze river, Poyang Lake can seasonally shrink and dry up.
In 2012, the lake nearly dried up completely. 200 square kilometers (77 sq mi) of land was underwater in October, while the lake is normally 3,500 square kilometers (1,400 sq mi) in area when full. In addition to the Three Gorges Dam, which must store water in its reservoir to be usable in winter, a drought was also blamed for the shrinkage.[5]
TheJiangxi local government has proposed to build thePoyang Lake Dam to maintain water levels in the lake, building a sluice wall across the connection between the lake and theYangtze river. An environmental impact assessment is pending. Scientists and environmental groups such as theWorld Wide Fund for Nature, have criticized the proposal, arguing that artificially engineering water levels in the lake will adversely affect wildlife diversity.[10]
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