Lhasa River

The Lhasa River, also called Kyi River (Tibetan: སྐྱིད་ཆུ་, Wylie: sKyid chu , Chinese: 拉薩河; pinyin: Lāsà hé), is a northern tributary of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the south of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The Yarlung Tsangpo is the upper section of the Brahmaputra River. The Lhasa River is subject to flooding with the summer monsoon rains, and structures have been built to control the floods. In its lower reaches the river valley is an important agricultural area. The city of Lhasa lies on the river. There are two large hydroelectric power stations on the river, the Zhikong Hydro Power Station (100 MW) and the Pangduo Hydro Power Station (160 MW)

Basin

The Lhasa River drains an area of 32,471 square kilometres (12,537 sq mi), and is the largest tributary of the middle section of the Yaluzangbu River. The average altitude of the basin is around 4,500 metres (14,800 ft). The basin has complex geology and is tectonically active. Earthquakes are common. The river basin is the center of Tibet politically, economically and culturally. As of 1990 the population was 329,700, of whom 208,700 were farmers. 88% of the people were ethnic Tibetans.