China's biggest lake declares 'red alert' as long drought lingers

WAM
23 Sep 2022, 18:13 GMT+10

SHANGHAI, 23rd September, 2022 (WAM) -- The central Chinese province of Jiangxi has declared a water supply "red alert" for the first time after the Poyang freshwater lake, the country's biggest, dwindled to a record low, the Jiangxi government said on Friday.

The Poyang Lake, normally a vital flood outlet for the Yangtze, China's longest river, has been suffering from drought since June, with water levels at a key monitoring spot falling from 19.43 metres to 7.1 metres over the last three months.

The Jiangxi Water Monitoring Centre said Poyang's water levels would fall even further in coming days, with rainfall still minimal. Precipitation since July is 60% lower than a year earlier, it said.

Though heavy rain has relieved the drought in much of southwest China, central regions continue to suffer, with extremely dry conditions now stretching more than 70 days in Jiangxi.

A total of 10 reservoirs in neighbouring Anhui province have fallen below the "dead pool" level, meaning they are unable to discharge water downstream, the local water bureau said earlier this week.

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