The water level at the Three Gorges Dam in central China's Hubei Province, has reached its highest of the flood season this year, about 158 meters.

So far the dam has held back 7 billion cubic meters of water. As rainfall has weakened, the water level of the Yangtze River in its upstream areas including Hubei and Chongqing has fallen below the danger level.

In Yunyang County of Chongqing Municipality, local authorities have sent 20 vessels to clear the debris and runoff from flooding near the Three Gorges Dam. It's hoped it'll ensure proper future flood discharge, as well as taking some pressure off the downstream areas of the Yangtze River.

Meanwhile vessels have resumed passing through the Three Gorges Dam, after it was closed to shipping for more than three days. Locks on the dam have been reopened as water flow has fallen to about 45,000 cubic meters per second from 70,000 cubic meters two days ago. Long lines of ships are now slowly passing through the dam.