section_path: Types/Artificial lakes
section_name: Artificial lakes
paragraph_text: Artificial lakes
  
  Artificial lakes or anthropogenic lakes are large waterbodies created by human activity. They can be formed by the intentional damming of rivers and streams, rerouting of water to inundate a previously dry basin, or the deliberate filling of abandoned excavation pits by either precipitation runoff, ground water, or a combination of both. Artificial lakes may be used as storage reservoirs that provide drinking water for nearby settlements, to generate hydroelectricity, for flood management, for supplying agriculture or aquaculture, or to provide an aquatic sanctuary for parks and nature reserves.
  
  The Upper Silesian region of southern Poland contains an anthropogenic lake district consisting of more than 4,000 water bodies created by human activity. The diverse origins of these lakes include: reservoirs retained by dams, flooded mines, water bodies formed in subsidence basins and hollows, levee ponds, and residual water bodies following river regulation. Same for the Lusatian Lake District, Germany.
  
  See: List of notable artificial lakes in the United States