A lingering drought in central China's Hubei Province has rendered nearly 1,600 water reservoirs running at the minimum water level needed for operation, and dry weather will continue in the coming week along the Yangtze River, the local water authority said on Monday.

As of Sunday, the province's reservoir water storage stood at 9.75 billion cubic meters, a 40-percent decrease from last year. The low water level makes it unlikely the drought can be eased.

Meanwhile, China's top meteorological authority said the southern regions along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will mostly see hot and dry weather during the coming week.

The lasting drought has so far affected 889,000 hectares of crops and left 761,000 people and 175,000 livestock in the province short of drinking water.

Hanjiang River, a major branch of the Yangtze River in Hubei, has almost dried up and put a huge strain on irrigation supplies for paddy fields along its range.

The water level of the Danjiangkou Reservoir, part of China's massive South-to-North Water Diversion Project, dropped to 4 meters below the minimum level.

Honghu Lake, the biggest lake in the province, has seen one-fourth of its 35,300-hectare area dry up, stranding thousands of fishing boats. The water level reaches 30 cm in the deepest areas, where it used to stand at two to three meters.

About 5 billion cubic meters of water will be discharged from the Three Gorges Dam over the next 20 days to ease the severe drought in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, according to the?Yangtze River Water Resources Committee on Monday.