Recently, the dam embankment of the Zhejiang Kaihua Reservoir Project—the only project in Zhejiang Province included among the 150 major water conservancy projects prioritized by the state—reached its design elevation. According to plan, the project will be completed by the end of 2024.

The Kaihua Reservoir Project is located at the source of the Qiantang River. It is the first project to incorporate watershed ecological restoration into reservoir construction tasks, and is a key project in Zhejiang's demonstration zone for common prosperity. The reservoir has a total storage capacity of 184 million cubic meters. Once completed, it will build a solid flood-control safety barrier for the Qiantang River basin, provide an important strategic water source guarantee for downstream areas, and lay a solid foundation for improving the basin's ecological environment and opening a channel for transforming lucid waters and lush mountains into invaluable assets. According to estimates, with a higher-standard flood-control system and ecological environmental protection system built on the basis of the Kaihua Reservoir, the GEP (gross ecosystem product) of the built-up area will grow from 320 million yuan to 2.25 billion yuan, radiating and driving capacity upgrading and structural optimization of Kaihua's largest industrial economic belt—the Hundred-Li Jinxi Gallery.

The dam of the Kaihua Reservoir Project adopts a concrete face rockfill dam, with a maximum dam height of 85.5 meters and a crest length of 385 meters. Filling of the dam began on August 21, 2022, with a maximum daily filling volume of 10,000 cubic meters. All parties involved in the project successfully overcame numerous challenges, including a tight schedule, high intensity, frequent cross-operation, and rainstorms and floods, ensuring the smooth progress of dam filling, and were awarded the honorary title of "Zhejiang Provincial Water Conservancy Civilized Standardized Construction Site."

As a pilot project for investment and financing reform of water conservancy construction projects proposed by the National Development and Reform Commission, Kaihua Reservoir is the first in Zhejiang to adopt the franchised BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) model for construction, operation, and management. It is the province's first water network backbone construction project to introduce the "national team" of water conservancy engineering—China South-to-North Water Diversion Group—for investment and construction. The "strong alliance" between a central state-owned enterprise and a water network backbone project not only solves short-term project financing difficulties, but also helps coordinate project construction and project operation, achieving comprehensive benefits throughout the entire project cycle. "The model of project-party funding and project-party construction management provides a strong project management team for the entire project construction, effectively guaranteeing construction safety, project quality management, and efficient and smooth progress," said a relevant person in charge of the Kaihua Reservoir Construction Center.