Giant dam taking the edge off deluge
Print Edition
The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River has not hit its maximum flood-intercepting capacity as the river’s first flood of the year passed through the dam last Saturday, its operator said.
The dam still has leeway to deal with even greater flooding in the country’s largest river, the Three Gorges Cascade Dispatch and Communication Center said.
“The current flood situation in the Yangtze’s main course is not particularly severe, so the reservoir’s flood storage capacity has yet to be fully utilized,” said Bao Zhengfeng, assistant director of the center.
The river’s first flood this year arrived at the Three Gorges dam on July 2, with a peak flow rate of 53,000 cubic meters per second, raising the reservoir’s water level to 149 meters after the passage of the flood. Bao said, however, the reservoir can handle a water level as high as 175 meters.
The China Three Gorges Corp said the dam was expected to absorb up to 18,000 cubic meters of water per second during this round of flooding, to take the edge off the deluge. The huge dam is in Yichang, central China’s Hubei Province. Before every flood season, its reservoir releases water to ensure enough storage capacity. When the deluge comes, the dam impounds water to whittle down the flood, protecting downstream cities and villages.
Bao refuted claims that the dam’s discharge of floodwater caused flooding in downstream cities, saying some cities experienced waterlogging as intense rain overpowered their drainage systems, not as a result of the flood in the Yangtze.
Since June, continuous downpours have lashed large parts of southern China, raising the water levels in many rivers above the danger mark.
The Three Gorges project is a multi-functional water control system, consisting of a 2,309-meter-long and 185-meter-high dam, a five-tier ship lock, and 34 hydropower turbo-generators. “The Three Gorges Dam plays a big role in flood control. In 2010 and 2012, we weathered a deluge of over 70,000 cubic meters per second, ensuring the safety of the downstream basin,” Bao said.
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