2010-07-21 07:03

YICHANG, Hubei - Wang Bixiang and his family living in Zigui city near the Three Gorges Dam were chatting with their neighbors as usual on Tuesday morning, without any worry that floodwaters were peaking nearby.

The massive flooding in 1954 and 1998 is still a nightmare for the older generation, but the younger generation seems unconcerned about the recent heavy rains, due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, which is effectively controlling the flood, Wang said.

The Three Gorges Dam on Yangtze River is holding up against its first major flood-control test, said Chen Fei, general manager of the China Three Gorges Corporation on Tuesday.

The flow of the river's upper reaches topped 70,000 cubic meters per second at the Three Gorges Dam on Tuesday, about 20,000 cubic meters more than the flow during 1998 that killed 2,140 people. The recent rains caused the highest level since the dam was completed in 2009.

The flow peaked about 8 am, still below the record high of 70,800 cubic meters per second in 1981, Xinhua News Agency quoted a spokesman with the corporation as saying.

The discharge of the Three Gorges Dam was raised to 40,000 cubic meters every second at 10 am and will remain at that level for the coming days, Chen said.

"The peak flow is high, but it has not exceeded the designed capacity that can bear the flood flow of 98,800 cubic meters every second," he said.

On Tuesday, the water level of the dam reached 150 meters, about five meters higher than the warning level, China Central Television reported.

The maximum water level of the dam is expected to reach 158 meters on Friday and the water volume stored will reach seven billion cubic meters, according to authorities at the Yangtze River flood control headquarters.

The Three Gorges Dam can store a minimum of 22.1 million cubic meters of floodwater.

"The dam can withstand this challenge easily," Cao said. The dam is designed with 23 discharge holes with only nine opened to embrace the flood peak.

The Three Gorges Corporation had reduced the reservoir's water level to below 146 meters before the river reached its peak.

The current situation is stable in the lower reaches, said an official of the Bureau of Hydrographics under the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission.

The water level has begun to fall in the Hankou area of Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, the official said.

As of 2 pm on Tuesday, the water flow there dropped to 66,000 cubic meters per second, the official said.

People who live in the downstream areas are also optimistic about the flood-control situation.

Tong Qingyuan, general director of the city's flood control and drought relief office of Jiujiang, East China's Jiangxi province, said his office and local metrological authorities are "comparatively optimistic" about the situation, despite the second flood peak roaring at 70,000 cubic meters per second into the Three Gorgers reservoir.

"The dam holding up the flood peak is a great relief for our flood-control efforts," he said.

According to the monitoring systems at the dam, power generation continued as normal during the high flow.

All ferry services were halted at the Three Gorges Dam on Monday and the 30-km exclusive passage along the river was opened only to boats carrying shipping cargos, officials at the Three Gorges Navigation Administration said.

Ferry services will be resumed after the influx decreases from 70,000 to 45,000 cubic meters per second, the official said.