Three Gorges Dam receives record inflow of flood waters
Print Edition
THE Three Gorges Dam in central China’s Hubei Province yesterday ushered in the largest flood peak since the reservoir was constructed in 2003, according to authorities.
At 8am, the Three Gorges Reservoir saw an inflow of 75,000 cubic meters per second. Eleven sluice gates were opened yesterday with a discharge flow of 49,200 cubic meters per second.
The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. The dam, which was completed in 2006, was designed for a maximum water level of 175 meters.
Increased discharge from the dam following heavy rains since July has effectively alleviated the flooding pressure on the downstream cities of Yangtze River in Hubei and Anhui provinces. Through multiple rounds of storage and release, total water storage of the dam has reached 28 billion cubic meters during this flooding season.
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 on the north and south, and 34 turbo-generators with a combined generating capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts.
The Ministry of Water Resources on Tuesday raised the river’s emergency response for floods from Level III to Level II. It has ordered several reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, including Ertan and Xiangjiaba, to help reduce the flow of the flood into the Three Gorges Reservoir.
The Three Gorges is located at the mouth of the Xiling Gorge above Yichang, stopping the floods from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River into the middle and lower reaches of the plains, and can effectively control and reserve the floods in the upper reaches of the river.
This mega-dam aims to do flood control, power generation, and also serves for shipping, and water replenishment. But flood control is the “core capability” of the dam, and it is also the original intention behind its construction.
The Three Gorges Project has installed the world’s largest flood discharge sluice gate. The maximum discharge capacity of the dam exceeds 100,000 square meters per second, equivalent to the amount of water poured in 40 Olympic swimming pools in one second.
Meanwhile, rain-triggered disasters, including floods and landslides, have killed 14 people with another 20 missing, in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, authorities said yesterday.
As of Tuesday, 34,900 residents had been relocated after the disasters affected 1.1 million people in the province, according to the provincial department of water resources.
Direct economic losses reached 3.14 billion yuan (US$453.7 million).
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