The Ministry of Water Resources has approved construction of a dam on Poyang Lake to relieve the severe drought of recent years, Yao Mugen, deputy governor of Jiangxi province and an NPC deputy, said on Monday

The Ministry of Environmental Protection is evaluating the project's environmental impacts on China's largest freshwater lake, Yao said.

According to local authorities, the dam will be built between Xingzi county and Duchang county and will be about 2.8 kilometers long.

The proposal has triggered controversy among environmentalists and water resources experts, who worried that the project will have potentially disastrous ecological impacts. Poyang Lake is a crucial winter habitat for migrating birds, which are protected under international conventions.

Yao said experts have considered all the potential impacts. The final project will minimize damage to the environment and protect biodiversity in the lake, he said.