Shipping traffic on the upper and part of the middle reaches of the
Yangtze River was disrupted after water levels fell to levels
rarely seen before.
The low water level has already had serious consequences, with a
stranded ship leaking at least 30 tons of petrol into the river's
Zhijiang section, which is only 2.9 meters deep.
The ship, with a cargo of 1,000 tons of petrol, was sailing from
Wuhan to Yichang, and got stuck at 2 am on Tuesday, according to
Zhang Jing, an official with the Yangtze River channel management
bureau based in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
Water levels in the Cuntan section of the upper reaches of the
Yangtze River were only 0.17 meters higher than its record low.
The Yichang, Shashi, Zhicheng and Chongqing sections in the upper
part of the Yangtze River's middle reaches all saw their lowest
ever water levels last week.
On
Sunday, the water level in Yichang section was 38.07 meters above
sea level, while the previous record was 38.30 meters.
"The low water level is largely a result of meager rainfall," Zhang
explained.
The period from November to April is usually the low water season
in the Yangtze River valley, and rainfall this winter is far less
compared to previous years, he said.
Starting from January, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River have
seen 15 to 52 percent less rainfall than usual, therefore the
runoff in the river has continued to fall, according to the Yangtze
River Water Resources Commission's statistics.
The Three Gorges Dam also has a slight influence on water levels in
Yichang section, but this is "not significant," he said.
Fortunately, the lower part of the river's middle reaches and its
downstream sections have witnessed higher than usual water
levels.
Statistics show the water level in Hankou section is at least 1
meter higher than the past year's average over the same period, and
this is also the case at Dongting Lake.
"In the following days the water level in the river's upper reaches
will gradually rise," Chen said.
The serious water shortage has a great influence on local
navigation. The damaged ship is unlikely to cause any serious
pollution to the river, Shi Wenxin, a local safety supervision
official said in a China News Agency report.
Local navigation authorities have ordered a ban on navigation in
that part of the river to prevent fire and organized a rescue team
to deal with the aftermath.
The rescue team has drawn all the gasoline out of the damaged hold
and stopped more petrol from leaking by Tuesday night, an official
at the rescue scene named Wang said in a phone interview with
China Daily.
Yesterday morning, the rescue team was trying to pull the ship to
the bank, Wang said.
(China Daily February 13, 2003)