Table 1. Comparison of the Three Gorges Reservoir and other large reservoirs with similar size in the world.

Reservoir	Three Gorges Reservoir	Itaipu Reservoir	Gariep Lake	Sakakawea Lake	Mead Lake	Powell Lake
Country	China	Brazil & Paraguay	South Africa	America	America	America
Impounds	Yangtze River	Paraná River	Orange River	Missouri River	Colorado River	Colorado River, Escalante River & San Juan River
Full water volume (km3)	39.3	29.0	53.4	30.0	32.2	30.0
Height of dam (m)	185	196	88	64	221	220
Generally season with high water level	mid Sep to next May	irregular	summer	summer	Jan-Mar	Jun-Sep
Generally annual duration of high water level	more than half year	irregular	less than three months	irregular	less than three months	less than three months
Generally annual water level magnitude (m)	30	2	10	3∼5	6∼12	10∼15
Reference of water regime	see Fig.2	[48]	[49]	[50]	[51]	[52]

Information of reservoirs size and location were searched on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page).