Three Gorges Dam Increases Its Discharge to Welcome the Highest Flood Crest

A new round of flood process in autumn was caused by heavy rainfall in upper reaches of Yangtze River. Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter Office of Yangtze River regulated the outlets of Three Gorges Dam successively to welcome the coming flood on September 19.

According to Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter Office of Yangtze River, a heavy rainfall process took place at Jialing River between September 16 and September 18. Water level of some tributaries of Jialing River (such as Qu River) created new record in history. Influenced by the water flow from the upper reaches, the water flow of Cuntan in main stream of Yangtze River increased to 21900 cubic meters per second on August 19. The water level of Three Gorges Reservoir keeps rising and has reached 161.02 meters. The inflow and outflow of Three Gorges Reservoir are 18300 cubic meters per second and 11800 cubic meters per second respectively.

To ensure certain storage capacity Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter Office of Yangtze River increases the flood discharge of Three Gorges Dam gradually. It has increased the flood discharge to 17000 cubic meters per second at 9:00 on September 19. The discharge increased to 21000 cubic meters per second at 16:00 on September 19.

Director of Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter Office of Yangtze River said that the inflow of Three Gorges Reservoir is predicted to be jumped to 40000 cubic meters per second on September 20 and the flood crest water level is predicted to show at 2:00 on September 21. Then the largest inflow of Three Gorges Reservoir might reach to 48000 cubic meters per second and the water level of the reservoir will rise to 166.5 meters.