The second phase of raising the water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir is underway. The water level will rise from the current 135 meters to 156 meters by mid-October. Emergency plans have been put in place to deal with any challenges such as flooding or earthquakes. Our reporter Xiaoyu brings you the details.
 Reporter: The water level raising in the Three Gorges Reservoir has so for been going smoothly.
Li Yongan, general manager of the Three Gorges Project Corporation, says the rise to over 150 meters has a symbolic meaning.
"It's a significant milestone in the Three Gorges project. The Three Gorges' capability of defending floods will be greatly increased, and the flood control system will eventually be fully established."
Primary operations of the reservoir will kick off after the water level reaches 156 meters in mid October, one year ahead of the original plan.
The second phase is one of the most important in the whole project.
When the water level reaches 156 meters, the dam will increase power production by more than 7 billion kilowatt-hours annually.
Challenges are appearing along with successes. Zhang Shuguang with the Three Gorges Project Corporation says
emergency plans have to be carefully put in place.
“We have real-time monitoring of the reservoir by equipment placed during the construction. We’ve also placed a net of earthquake monitoring equipments around the reservoir to probe for earthquakes, especially those caused by the rise of water level.”
Moreover, the raising of the water level is limited to a maximum five meters per day and the volume of water discharged downstream to 8-10 thousand cubic meters per second so that drought fighting efforts and water usage in downstream areas are not affected.
Located in central China's Hubei province, the Three Gorges dam is the biggest in the world. It was completed in May this year, with the main dam measuring more than 2,300 meters in length and 185 meters in height. The water level will be raised to a final 175 meters over the coming 2-3 years.
More than one million local residents have been relocated since 1993 for the construction of the dam.
Xiaoyu, CRI news
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Director: Liu Chi