The areas affected by lake reclamation stretched all the way from Inner Mongolia and Manchuria in the northeast to Yunnan and Kweichow Provinces in the southwest.
以圍湖來說，受影響的區域由內蒙、東北到雲南、貴州，許多有「草原明珠」、「高原明珠」之譽的湖泊，都未能倖免。