Due to heavy rainfall in central and south China for months, the Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze River is reaching its maximum capacity.
The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia at over 6,300 kilometers. It runs from the Tibetan highlands in central China via Chongquing, Wuhan and Manjing to Shanghai and flows into the South China Sea. Many tributaries feed the main stream.
To tame the river, China has built several dams over time to prevent flooding, irrigate the surrounding land and generate electricity.
Due to the constant rainfall, the dams can no longer drain the water and the reservoirs are filling up. The Lake of the Three Gorges Dam in China’s Hubei province is 660 kilometers long and can reach 1,120 meters wide. Within a month the water level has risen from 155 to 165 meters. The maximum height that the lake can reach is 175 meters above sea level.
The level of the reservoir has risen 10 meters in one month
The Three Gorges Dam currently allows more than 49 million liters of water per second, the largest amount since its opening, while 75 million liters per second flow into the lake at the top. The 2.3-kilometer-long dam can pass up to 98 million liters of water per second to the catchment area, which is 110 meters below, but then all 55 holes must be open. This has not happened to date, because the lower areas will be faced with catastrophic flooding.
The Three Gorges Dam was commissioned in 2006 and is the largest hydroelectric power station in the world. The Chinese government assures the population that the dam can keep the water pressure.
––
–
–
The Great Buddha of Leshan at the meeting of the Min Jiang and the Dadu He, two rivers that flow into the Yangtze River. (Photo: Reuters)
Worst floods since 1981
The floods caused by the rainfall are already the worst since 1981, when 1.5 million people were made homeless by the water. In July, more than five million people were affected by flooding due to the heavy rainfall. More than 400,000 people were then evacuated.
In the province of Sichuan, upstream of the Three Gorges Dam, 100,000 people have now been brought to safety because of the floods. Volunteers do their utmost to protect the Great Buddha of Leshan. The 71-meter-high statue that was built during the Tang Dynasty (around 800) is currently standing with its toes in the water. That hasn’t happened since 1949.
– .
