The water level of Ganjiang, the second largest tributary of the Yangtze River in southeast China's Jiangxi Province, hit a record low on Thursday.

By 8 AM, the water level of Ganjiang was 14.6 meters, six centimeters below its previous record set in 1949, according to an expert with the Hydrological Bureau of Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi.

Rainfall from the beginning of the year to Wednesday was only 79.44 millimeters, 32 percent lower than last year.

The Ganjiang River supplies water for over half of the 43 million people in Jiangxi.

According to the expert, the low water level would not result in drinking water shortages for the time being, as the four water factories in Nanchang had deepened their water pumping pipes by two to three meters after a drought in 2003.

In addition, the spring plowing season has yet to start, so the impact of the low water level is limited.

According to estimates by the provincial meteorological station, Jiangxi will see showers next week.

(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2007)