Three Gorges Project’s First Flood Discharge This Year

Affected by heavy rainfall in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the amount of water entering the Three Gorges Reservoir continued to increase. In order to free up certain storage capacity to meet the possible flood in the near future, the Three Gorges Project opened two spillholes on the morning of 29th to increase the discharge flow. This is the first flood release of the Three Gorges Project this year.

The Wujiang, Minjiang and Tuojiang rivers in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River have recently experienced heavy rainfall. Affected by this, the inflow of the Three Gorges Reservoir began to increase on the afternoon of the 27th. At 14:00 on the 28th, the inflow volume of the Three Gorges Reservoir reached 40,000 cubic meters per second, which was twice that at 14:00 on the 27th. In response to this round of incoming water, the General Manager of the Yangtze River Defense requested to increase the discharge flow of the Three Gorges Reservoir to an average of 35,000 cubic meters per second per day.
At 8:00 on the 29th, the 34 units of the Three Gorges Power Station were fully opened, with a total output of more than 20 million kilowatts, close to full power.

At present, the process of heavy rainfall in the east of the upper Yangtze River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from northwest to southeast continues. The reporter learned from the Hydrology Bureau of the Yangtze River Commission that from July 1st to 2nd, there were moderate to heavy rains near the main stream of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and local heavy rains. On the 3rd, there were heavy rains on the upper reaches of the Jialing River and the upper reaches of the Han River, and local heavy rain. In the first half of July, the Three Gorges Reservoir may usher in a new round of flooding.