Water levels up- and downstream of dams are strongly affected by water levels in the reservoir as well as the discharge of the dam. To ensure that no harm comes to buildings, bridges or agricultural land it is important to ensure that the water level in the reservoir is adjusted to handle large floods. This report studies within what range the water level in the reservoir of the Yayangshan dam, located in Lixian River, can vary without causing any flooding downstream the dam or at the Old and New Babian Bridge located upstream the dam. By calculation of the designed flood, flood routing- and backwater computation, initial water level ranges in the reservoir have been set for the pre-flood, main flood and latter flood season for damages to be avoided. Due to the far distance between the dam site and the bridges, backwater effects had no influence on the limitations of the initial water level in the reservoir.