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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 30, 2002

One Million Facing Drought in China's Shandong

Although areas along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are being threatened by flood disaster, East China's Shandong Province is experiencing its worst drought in 100 years.


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Although areas along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are being threatened by flood disaster, East China's Shandong Province is experiencing its worst drought in 100 years.

Ironically, about 300 hectares of land and more than 1 million people in Shandong's central, northern and southwestern parts are facing a severe water shortage. Experts say exceptionally low seasonal rainfall is the cause of the drought.

Rainfall in the province from June 1 to August 29 had only totalled 194 millimetres, about half of the normal amount, according to statistics from the local water resources bureau.

Latest statistics show that water reserves in all projects in the province are only holding about 3.9 billion cubic metres of water, about 4.1 billion cubic metres less compared with the same time in previous years.

Meanwhile, the flood peak of the Yangtze River has arrived in Central China's Jiangxi Province.

The water level of Jiangxi's Poyang Lake, which is one of the biggest lakes along the Yangtze, was yesterday more than 1.27 metres above the warning level.

Jiangxi's government has issued an alert calling people to make more efforts to prevent the flood from destroying their lives and wealth.

As the flood peak moves down the river, the water level of the Yangtze is expected to surpass warning levels in provinces in the lower reaches, such as Anhui and Jiangsu, in the following days.

Although the flood peak is moving to the sea, efforts to fight the flood are still quite concentrated in areas such as Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces, as thundershowers and heavy rain will continue in coming days.

While lakes and rivers in southern China are bursting, the upper part of the Nansi Lake, one of the major reservoirs of Shandong Province, has dried up. Only an estimated 3 million cubic metres of water are left.

In Jining, the drought is endangering more than 320,000 people in 350 villages.

The 130-kilometre Jining section of the