Central China drought puts Poyang freshwater lake supply on red alert

Authorities in Jiangxi province say water levels are at a record low and will fall further in coming days

While heavy rains have brought relief to the southwest, central regions continue to suffer extremely dry conditions

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Poyang Lake water levels are at record lows after a punishing drought continues to affect Jiangxi province and other parts of central China. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:56am, 23 Sep 2022Updated: 3:01pm, 23 Sep 2022

China’s largest freshwater lake has dwindled to a record low, prompting local authorities in Jiangxi province to declare a water supply “red alert” for the first time.

Poyang Lake – normally a vital flood outlet for the Yangtze, China’s longest river – has been suffering from drought since June, with water levels at a key monitoring spot falling from 19.43 metres to 7.1 metres (63.7 feet to 23.2 feet) in the past three months.

The Jiangxi Water Monitoring Centre said Poyang’s water levels would fall even further in coming days, with rainfall in the central Chinese province still minimal – precipitation since July is 60 per cent lower than the previous year.

As many as 267 weather stations across China reported record temperatures in August, and a long dry spell across the Yangtze River basin severely curtailed hydropower output and damaged crop growth ahead of the autumn harvest.

While heavy rain has relieved the drought in much of southwest China, central regions continue to suffer, with extremely dry conditions now stretching more than 70 days in Jiangxi.

Ten reservoirs in neighbouring Anhui province had fallen below the “dead pool” level, meaning they were unable to discharge water downstream, the local water bureau said earlier this week.