Reservoir inventory for China in 2016 and 2021

Two maps containing medium and large reservoirs of China are presented and named (1) MLRC_2016, (2) MLRC_2021 based mainly on Landsat 8 images and other ancillary data sources. They give a national medium and large reservoir extent of 23314.00 and 24888.95 km² respectively. By distinguishing the reservoirs based on uniform data sources and methodology, the proposed dataset is believed to be useful for promoting the research of basic disciplines such as hydrology and environmental science, and assisting watershed-scale environmental planning/monitoring and the national macro-decision-making in terms of integrated management of surface water resources.