Can the Three Gorges Reservoir replenish water in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to alleviate the drought in the middle and lower reaches?

Relevant departments have begun to urgently replenish water to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In the next few days, about 500 million cubic meters of water will be replenished to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The reservoirs in the lower reaches of the Jinsha River will also replenish water to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. About 300 million cubic meters to cope with the continued development of high temperature and drought conditions. This water replenishment process has a positive effect on alleviating drought conditions in the middle and lower reaches.

Causes of drought. Large areas of our country have suffered from extreme high temperatures, and continued high temperature weather and climate anomalies have accelerated the evaporation and use of water in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. High temperatures above 40 degrees have occurred in large areas of our country, and the temperature in some areas has reached above 45 degrees, and the high temperature will last for a long time. The subtropical high pressure in the northwest Pacific this year is stronger than in previous years. Coupled with the climate effects caused by global warming, which are also more extreme, rainfall in the Yangtze River Basin is very scarce, resulting in very severe drought conditions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in my country. Severe droughts also occurred in some areas, including Chongqing, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan and Anhui. In some areas of the Yangtze River Basin, rivers have dried up due to high temperatures, small reservoirs have dried up, and the water output from electromechanical wells is seriously insufficient. These have seriously affected agricultural, domestic and industrial and commercial water use. If this situation continues, agricultural output in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will be affected. In the north, due to the more obvious changes in warm and cold airflow, rainfall has begun to increase compared to previous years. This is also the result of the greenhouse effect, and rainfall has a tendency to tilt toward the north.

The role of the Three Gorges Reservoir. The normal water storage level of the Three Gorges Dam is 175 meters, with a total storage capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters. Even before the high temperature season began, the Three Gorges Reservoir had already started to replenish 1.09 billion cubic meters of water. Due to the severity of the drought and the fact that this year's climate is different from previous years, the amount of water supply is far from sufficient to alleviate the drought. Relevant departments decided to reopen the Three Gorges Dam to replenish water in the middle and lower areas. The Three Gorges Reservoir will fully open the water replenishment mode. It plays an important role in alleviating the low water level in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and restoring agricultural production.