Water

Water Action: Asia
Getting to Know the Mekong Wetlands
People's Republic of China (PRC)

• Dian Chi, a nationally important lake near Kunming
• Er Hai, the largest lake in the catchment

Dian Chi, at an elevation of 1,885 m, is the sixth largest freshwater lake in the PRC. The lake, a few kilometers southwest of Kunming, with an area of about 300 km2, was formed by a geological fault crossing the central Yunnan Plateau. Dian Chi has long been a favorite tourist spot and is often described as a sapphire set on the highlands of Yunnan Province.

Dian Chi Lake has become severely polluted in recent years and needs effective ecological and legal protection. The Government has spent more than $2 billion to clean it up. However, the investments, which did not fully address nonpoint sources of pollution, such as agricultural runoff, have produced limited results. The central and provincial governments are now looking for innovative solutions to the problem.

Satellite Photo of Dian Chi Lake

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Er Hai Lake (Ear Lake), so called because of its shape, is nestled about 2,000 m above sea level in the western part of Yunnan Province, PRC, just a few kilometers east of Dali. It is a typical Asian highland lake in its geomorphology and general ecology.

The watershed covers about 2,565 km². Nearly 120 rivers empty into the lake but only one, the Xier, drains Er Hai Lake and then flows into the upper Mekong drainage system.

Besides providing water to the region's 1.4 million people, Er Hai Lake is a major tourist site, drawing about 2 million tourists each year. However, water quality in the lake has deteriorated, mainly because of the mismanagement of waste from wood pulp factories and sedimentation from increasing timber harvesting, as well as the impact of marble quarrying. Nonpoint runoff from agriculture, animal husbandry, and fish culture has also affected water quality in the last 10-15 years.

Satellite Photo of Er Hai Lake