Central China's Jiangxi Province on Friday declared a red alert for its water supply for the first time, after the country's largest lake, Poyang Freshwater Lake, shrunk to a record level.
Poyang Lake, usually a vital flood outlet for the Yangtze River, China's longest, has been drying up since June, according to "Reuters". The water level at a key observation point in the navy has fallen from 19.43 meters to 7.1 meters over the past three months.
The Jiangxi Water Monitoring Center said water levels in Puyang will drop further in the coming days. He added that rainfall since July was 60 percent less than the previous year.
As many as 267 weather stations across China reported record temperatures in August, and a prolonged drought along the Yangtze River Basin slashed hydropower production and damaged crop growth ahead of the autumn harvest.
Although torrential rains eased the drought in most parts of southwest China, central regions are still suffering, with severely arid conditions now spanning more than 70 days in Jiangxi.
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