World Water Day/China Water Week special report

The World Water Day is celebrated on March 22 every year, which also marks the first day of China’s Water Week. Today, let’s take a look at what tremendous achievement the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s biggest hydropower station, has scored in water transfer.

The Three Gorges Dam has made replenishment for 1,783 days and discharged an accumulative 212.7 billion cubic meters of water to replenish the lower reaches of the Yangtze River as of the end of February since its operation. 

The volume of the water discharged is equivalent to 9 times the water storage capacity of Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China, or enough to guarantee the water supply for 21 million permanent residents in the capital city of Beijing for 55 years (according to data released by Beijing Water Authority, the annual water consumption in Beijing reached about 3.9 billion cubic meters in 2016). 

The low-water season replenishment operation of the Three Gorges reservoir has secured the water supply for residential and industrial use in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It has also helped guarantee the stable navigation of one of the world’s the busiest waterways and created favorable conditions for the breeding of rare fish species in the region. 

The achievement made by the Three Gorges Dam in water transfer has ensured security and continuity of power supply for households and industries in cold season, demonstrating the comprehensive benefits the project produced.