The Three Gorges Reservoir helped reduce flood damage in the Dongting Lake area in China in 2010. By controlling water flow, the reservoir lowered flood levels and decreased economic losses. The flood volume from the reservoir outlets decreased by 242.61 million cubic meters, and the flood level at Chenglingji dropped by 0.82 meters. This led to a reduction of about $19.98 million in direct economic losses and$0.64 million in indirect economic losses in the lake area.