Three Gorges restarts full-capacity storage test

YICHANG, Hubei - The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest water control and hydropower project which spans China's Yangtze River, started on Monday to reduce water discharge with a full-capacity storage test.

The China Three Gorges Project Corporation (CTGPC) said the water level in the dam will reach 175 meters by the end of October at the earliest.

The company on Monday morning monitored the water lever in the dam at 159 meters. The water discharged through the sluice gate and flowed at 19,000 cubic meters per second.

The company said the speed will be lowered to 8,000 cubic meters per second at the end of October.

The Three Gorges Project was launched in 1993 with a budget equivalent to $22.5 billion. It is a third round of the full-capacity storage test. The first was in October, 2010.

The high-level water storage allows experts to observe, research and validate the dam's original design, and to test its hydropower turbo-generators.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has required the company to closely monitor hydrological changes in the river's upper reaches and dam operation during full-capacity runs.

The reservoir, mainly built to tame the Yangtze River, usually discharges water in May. It alleviates spring droughts in areas downstream, and makes room to contain water from the river's seasonal flooding in summer.