The Azwan Dam holds about three times more water.
Hmmm. With or without all the silt?
“The Azwan Dam holds about three times more water.”
Another Freeper pointed out a few days ago, that a dam in Canada holds even more water still.
I think that where Three Gorges leads, in in its electrical generation - 22 gigawatts.
The then Premier (Li) took a special interest in electrical generation. By the time he left office, his family controlled 15% of the electrical generation of China.
Hydroelectricity (once the initial construction cost is paid off) is even closer to having your own money printing press, than oil production. Since that is what the boss wanted, that is what the engineers sought to maximize.