Named for the Ming tombs nearby, it is the lower reservoir of the Shisanling Pumped Storage Power Station.

The dam creates a reservoir that can store 59,000,000 cubic metres (2.083565337×109 cu ft) of water and contains a controlled chute spillway.

[2] The Ming Tombs Reservoir was built in only four months by hundreds of thousands of workers who labored around the clock.

[3]: 159  The Ming Tombs Reservoir's development was represented in photography, music, literature and film.

[3]: 159 French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson also documented the construction in color photography.