The Three Gorges Reservoir on Friday finished its annual impoundment process, gradually refilling to the 175-meter mark after the summer flood season, to store enough water for winter and spring use downstream. It marked the 14th year that the reservoir, which is located at the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, achieved the 175-meter target, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. This target is the highest water level that the resevoir can achieve during normal operation, and it also serves as the upper limit for flood control operations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. During the main flood season each year, the reservoir proactively lowers its water level to free up storage capacity in preparation for potential upstream floods. Typically, by late September, when the flood season nears its end and the risk of flooding significantly decreases, the Three Gorges Reservoir begins its annual impounding process, gradually raising the water level back to 175 meters. Historical data from the Yichang Hydrological Station in the Yangtze River Basin shows that over 60 percent of the annual water inflow is concentrated during the flood season, while water availability often becomes insufficient during the dry winter period. Therefore, the Three Gorges Reservoir must store sufficient water by the end of October to ensure a steady release to the middle and lower reaches during the dry season. According to statistics, from November last year to April this year, the Three Gorges Reservoir cumulatively replenished 11.67 billion cubic meters of water downstream, equivalent to a year's water supply for over 15 million people. Shotlist: Yichang City, Hubei Province, central China - Recent: 1. Aerial shot of Three Gorges Dam, cityscape; 2. Various of animation showing Three Gorges Dam completing 175-meter water storage; 3. Aerial shot of Three Gorges Dam, cityscape, cargo ships; 4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Gong Wenting, engineer, reservoir management department, basin hub operations center, China Three Gorges Corporation (ending with shots 5-7): "The Three Gorges Reservoir's achievement of reaching the 175-meter storage target can effectively meet the production, domestic, and ecological water demands of the people along the Yangtze River. This will maintain the reservoir's average daily outflow rate at over 6,000 cubic meters per second during the upcoming winter and spring seasons."; FILE: Yichang City, Hubei Province, central China - Date Unknown 5. Aerial shot of Three Gorges Hydropower Station; 6. Various of dam; 7. Transmission towers; 8. Aerial shot of Gezhouba Hydropower Station; FILE: China - Exact Date and Location Unknown 9. Various ships. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]