South China's Guangdong Province has decided to discharge
reservoir water again to set free 215 vessels grounded on the
Beijiang River because of a two-month drought.
The Feilai Gorge Reservoir on the river, located about 40
kilometers northeast of Qingyuan City, will discharge water from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 24 with a flux of 800 cubic meters per
second to ease the traffic jam at lower reaches, the provincial
flood and drought control headquarters said on Friday.
The move is expected to help the Beijiang river, which has
fallen to the lowest level of less than one meter with its width
narrowing from 1,000 meters to 200 meters, reopen to navigation,
according to the marine affairs bureau of Qingyuan City.
A drought since October has seen the river keep shrinking and
vessels have grounded on the river section in Qingyuan since the
beginning of this month.
Over the past 10 days, the Feilai Gorge Reservoir has discharged
water four times to raise the water level of the Beijiang, however,
the result has not been satisfactory.
By Friday, the number of waiting vessels, some of which had been
trapped for more than two weeks, had reached 215, according to the
city's marine affairs bureau.
Irrigation and shipping facilities were affected, particularly
coal and cement transport, which usually peaks in winter, according
to the bureau.
Winding about 470 km through the northern part of Guangdong, the
Beijiang River is the second largest tributary of the Pearl River
and it is also a major waterway in Guangdong.
(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2007)