The first flood crest in five years in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the second longest in China, has smoothed down after it flew into the Sanmenxia Reservoir in the afternoon of Aug. 1.

The flow from the Sanmenxi Reservoir, in the middle reaches of the river, was recorded at 2,250 cubic meters per second at 8 a.m. Saturday, according to the Yellow River Flood Control Headquarters(YRFCH).

The floodwater flew smoothly into the Xiaolangdi Reservoir, 130km downstream the Sanmenxia Reservoir and 128 km upstream Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province.

By 8 a.m. Saturday, the Xiaolangdi Reservoir held 2.38 billion cubic meters of water, 1.8 billion cubic meters less than that wasstored prior to last year's flood season. The water level was 3.44meters lower than the warning line.

The floodwater was expected to replenish water to the reservoir, experts with the YRFCH said.

Caused by heavy rain to rainstorms in the upstream areas, the flood wave, the first in this stretch of the river since 1998, was named the No. 1 Flood Wave of 2003 by the YRFCH.

The flood wave was formed on Thursday, with a total water volume of about 300 million cubic meters. The flow at Longmen hydrological station was recorded at 7,230 cubic meters per second at 1:18 p.m. Thursday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2003)