Xinhua
September 20, 2006

The water level in the Three Gorges reservoir will rise from the current 135 metres to 148 metres by Oct. 1 and then to 156 metres by mid-October after a break of two days so engineers can monitor the effects on the dam, Xinhua reports.

Three Gorges dam site, Yichang: The second phase of raising the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir began at 10:00 p.m. Wednesday. One of the 13 power-producing generators was shut down, reducing electricity generation to 5.65 million kw, down from the normal 6.86 million kw, according to Li Yong’an, general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation. By midnight, the water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir will have risen by 0.6 meters, said Li. He said that when the level reaches 156 meters in mid-October, this would be a milestone in the construction of the Three Gorges Project. Earlier in the day, Chongqing municipality, upstream from the reservoir, launched a massive clean-up campaign to prevent waste from fouling the waters.