Three Gorges Dam of the river downstream, and provides fresh water for agricultural and industrial usage. It also improves shipping conditions. The water level upstream drops from 175 m to 145 m, preparing for the rainy season. The water also powers the Gezhouba Dam downstream. Since the filling of the reservoir in 2003, the Three Gorges Dam has supplied an extra 11 cubic kilometres of fresh water to downstream cities and farms during the dry season. During the 2010 South China floods in July, inflows at the Three Gorges Dam reached a peak of , exceeding the peak during the 1998 Yangtze River
Three Gorges Reservoir Region 300–340 days. The annual runoff flow at the site of the dam of the Three Gorges Project is 451 billion m³ with the annual sediment discharge of 530 million tons. The Three Gorges abounds in water resources, ecological resources, tourism resources, and the resources of some ores, which have a great potential for exploration. The Yangtze River flows through the Three Gorges Reservoir Region with the good conditions for water transportation and the water-resources development. The potential installed capacity of hydropower can be about 30,000 MW in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region where the water resources are the most abundant