 The initial capacity of the reservoir was , but after 10 years it lost 10% of its capacity due to silting, and after 17 years, 17.4%.This silting rate is considered quite low, compared to other reservoirs on the Yellow River, such as the narrow Yanguoxia Reservoir just downstream, which lost 71.3% of its storage capacity between 1958 and 1964 (and 77%, by 1965), or Sanmenxia Reservoir, which lost 96% of its storage capacity to sedimentation in just 4 years.The reservoir usually does not freeze over in winter, but during the unusually cold weather in early 2008 over half of its surface froze, which necessitated taking measures to protect the turbines of the hydroelectric plant from floating ice.