Wednesday February 28, 2007
Drought hits Yangtze area
SEVERE drought has had a debilitating effect on the Yangtze river over the last two weeks, leaving at least 1.5 million people in Chongqing municipality with water shortages, local authorities have said.
A spokesman of Shapingba Waterworks, one of the largest drinking water suppliers in the city centre, said yesterday that only one of its 10 pipes used to pump water from the Yangtze was still below the water surface and in operation, and that was only 10cm below the water level.
“If the water levels in the Yangtze and its upper tributary Jialing continue to decline, we'll face a real crisis,” he said.
The municipal drought control authority has sent water wagons to the drought-hit areas to provide water for people and cattle, and has told local governments to build up reserves.
The local hydrological bureau said water levels in the Yangtze and Jialing rivers had declined sharply in recent weeks due to lack of rain. It follows last summer's severe drought that forced tens of thousands of farmers away from their land.
On Sunday, the water level at Cuntan hydrological station in Chongqing measured 158.43m, only 35cm higher than the record low reported in 1987, said a bureau spokesman. He blamed a glut of power plants in the Yangtze's upper reaches for the decline in water supply.
Sources with the China Three Gorges Project Corporation said the water shortage in the upper reaches had not affected the world's largest water storage facility in the lower reaches.
The flow of water into the dam measured 3,700 cubic metres per second, and the water level at the dam was 153.43m on Sunday afternoon, which safeguards the operation
of the dam. But the declining water level
in Chongqing has played havoc with navigation.
A cargo ship carrying 1,400 tonnes of timber was stranded on Sunday close to Chongqing's Xinggang port. The salvage operation lasted five hours.
Yesterday, the local maritime bureau suspended navigation in the area between 12.30pm and 2.30pm every day for surveying and dredging.
“The Yangtze suffers from drought almost every spring, but this year's situation is worse than ever,” said a sailor, adding that the water level at Chaotianmen Wharf in central Chongqing was “lower by at least 1m” compared to last year.
The exposed riverbed near the wharf has become a temporary playground for locals to sunbathe and fly kites.
The Chongqing municipal flood control and drought relief office said it planned to ease the drought through artificial rainfall. – China Daily / Asia News Network
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