Society

Three Gorges Dam sees first flood of the year

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-24 10:32
Large Medium Small

YICHANG, Hubei - The Three Gorges Dam, located on China's Yangtze River, saw its first flood of the year on Thursday.

At around 8 pm Thursday, the water flow rate in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River reached 39,000 cubic meters per second, said Yuan Jie, director of the Three Gorges Cascade Dispatching Center.

Related readings:
Three Gorges Dam sees first flood of the year Power plants will double output of Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam sees first flood of the year Three Gorges Dam 'hugely beneficial'
Three Gorges Dam sees first flood of the year Three Gorges ship lock marks 8 years of operation
Three Gorges Dam sees first flood of the year Three Gorges Dam should not be blamed for drought

The criteria for defining a flood on the Three Gorges Dam is a water flow rate of 35,000 cubic meters per second or higher.

The flood was caused by heavy rains that began pounding the Jialing River basin in the upper reaches of the Yangtze on Wednesday, said Wang Hai, an official with the dam's construction and operation management bureau.

To ease pressure on downstream areas, the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has ordered the Three Gorges Reservoir to gradually increase the amount of water that it discharges to the river's lower reaches.

By 9 pm, water levels at the Three Gorges Reservoir reached 147.28 meters, about two meters higher than the day's lowest level.

In 2010, more than 26 billion cubic meters of water were held back in the reservoir, which helped authorities to control flooding in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze, according to a report issued by the China Three Gorges Corporation on Sunday.

分享按钮