Drought relief urgently needed

Liu Peisen, a cherry farmer from Hubei, stands under the dried-up trees that used to help him making a living. Liu's cherry harvest has seen little fruit, with most of his cherries drying up and dying because of the water shortage.

"It is heartbreaking to see these withered cherries. We're happy to see water being discharged from the dam," Liu said.

For Liu and the thousands of others plagued by the drought, the large discharge of water from the Three Gorges Dam has provided a welcome relief from the water shortage.

The flood control and drought relief headquarters of the Yangtze River and the China Three Gorges Corporation made a joint agreement Saturday to fight the drought while still maintaining normal shipping operations on the river.

After three days of continuous water discharges, the dam's water level dropped below 155 meters, the designated minimum level for safe shipping along the river, according to Wang.

However, the spokesman said that the dam's management bureau will conduct more discharges in the near future, as the upper reaches of the Yangtze will flow into the dam and bring its water level back to normal.

Several sections of the Yangtze have recently seen record lows in their water levels.

"The continuous water discharges will increase the amount of water pumping from the upper part of the Yangtze River to its middle and lower reaches, which will be helpful in combating the drought," said Zheng.

The discharges mark the second time in which the Three Gorges Dam has been required to make emergency water discharges. In October 2009, the dam's management bureau ordered water discharges in order to ease a drought on the lakes of Dongting and Poyang, located near the middle reaches of the Yangtze