What impact does the construction of Hong Yashan Reservoir have on today's environment?

Perhaps in the impression of many people, the desert is endless yellow sand. But what we are going to talk about today is an exception, because surrounded by two deserts, a large reservoir of 30 square kilometers was abruptly built. Because it was built in the desert, it attracted a lot of attention from birth. This so-called first desert reservoir in Asia is called Hong Yashan Reservoir.

As a reservoir opened in the desert, this kind of example is quite rare in the world. Because the desert itself is a very water-deficient terrain, it is much more difficult to build a reservoir in the desert than in other places. The reservoir was built in 1958, and we have to admire our country's infrastructure ability to build such a difficult project in the desert of that era.

The reservoirs here were not built for no reason, and Hong Yashan Reservoir was also praised as a life project by local people. Because it has not only become an important tourist attraction in one fell swoop, but also the only local water conservancy savings project, it currently controls the farmland irrigation in the county and makes nearly 300,000 people in Minqin County live happily on this land.

Of course, the reservoir scenery here is also quite good. Not only can you climb to the top of the mountain to see the beautiful lake, but you can also choose to have fun here. It is a wonderful experience to try to swim in this desert and feel the vastness of the desert between sand dunes.

However, perhaps few people know that this reservoir has caused many problems. Even at the beginning of the construction, it caused a lot of controversy. When the reservoir was first built, it was actually predicted that it would cause water shortage or even desertification in the downstream. However, due to the original background of the times, this huge reservoir was built in a hurry.

Since the completion of the reservoir, due to the forced construction in the desert, the interception directly led to the rapid drying up of Qingtu Lake, a great lake with hundreds of square kilometers downstream, and even created the fastest drying-up lake record in China history, which is also the reason why Tengger Desert and Badain Jaran Desert meet, which makes people feel a little sad.

Not only that, many land downstream has been salinized and desertified, and the increase of sandstorm weather has triggered more and more chain reactions. Although it did benefit local farmers, the longer the time, the more obvious the change. I won't comment on this matter here. I don't know what you think of this matter.

Anyway, the reservoir has been built at present, and its storage capacity has exceeded 1.27 billion cubic meters. It not only promoted tourism, but also attracted many people to visit and formed a beautiful picture in this desert. Although some stories are embarrassing, the wheel of history has been rolling forward. I hope it won't happen again.