炳灵湖北连永靖县，东连东乡县，南连临夏县、积石山县，末端与青海民和县相接。全长 66 公里，大夏河汇入黄河的地方为库区最宽处，宽度为 6.5 公里，洮河汇入黄河的地方为库区最窄处，宽度仅 70 米，水域面积 150 平方公里，库容量 57 亿立方米。黄河在这里转了一个九十度急弯，然后穿过峡谷而出，从而在这里形成宽广河谷，后因刘家峡水电站的修建而截水成此湖。
炳灵湖是我国最大的高原人造湖之一，水面宽阔，水质优良，不仅是陇原水域最大水质最优的水产养殖基地，也为水上竞技运动提供了理想的训练场地。炳灵湖被确定为国家皮划艇队训练基地和甘肃省体工二大队水上训练基地。
炳灵湖烟波浩渺、水天一色，由于水域广阔，又被广大旅友称之为“高原上的马尔代夫”。
The Liujiaxia reservoir(or Bingling Lake), is located 1km southwest of Yongjing County. The Yellow River turned a sharp bend of 90 degrees here and then flowed through the canyon, forming a wide valley here, which was later intercepted by the construction of the Liujiaxia Hydropower Station. The reservoir starts from Liujiaxia Dam in the east and ends at Binglingsi Gorge in the west. It stretches from southwest to northeast bordering Dongxiang and Linxia County in the south and Yongjing County in the north. The lakeshore line is 66km long, the widest water surface is 6.5km and the water area is more than 150km2. The scenery is so spectacular, known as the “Pearl of the Plateau”.
