1st LD-Writethru: China's largest freshwater lake swells, major river thirsty

China's largest freshwater lake has nearly tripled in size due to persistent heavy rains over the past two months, according to local authorities.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, the water level of Poyang Lake, located in east China's Jiangxi Province, stood at 17.5 meters, 1.5 meters lower than the flood warning level, according to monitoring data from the provincial hydrology bureau.

The lake's surface area has risen to 3,260 square kilometers, nearly three times its size before the flood season started in April.

The local meteorological authorities predicted the torrential rain would continue over the next five days, which is likely to push the lake's water level to 18.5 meters.

According to statistics from the provincial civil affairs department, downpour over the past week has affected 831,000 people in 48 counties, with two killed by lightning.

The disaster has forced the relocation of 43,000 residents as it has toppled homes of 677 families and damaged 71,400 hectares of farmland, causing direct economic loss of 610 million yuan (99.7 million U.S. dollars).

In contrast to the swollen Poyang Lake, the country's second longest river is short of water because of less rainfall at its source.

The average temperature in China's Qinghai Province, where the Yellow River originates, from January to May was 1.3 degrees Celsius higher than average years, said Dai Sheng, a researcher with the provincial meteorological bureau.

Between March and May, the speed of the river's eastward flow across north China was an average of 298 cubic meters per second, nearly 20 percent slower than normal.

Dai said the water shortage will affect hydropower, irrigation and water supply in the middle and lower reaches of the river.

Cloud-seeding aircraft have been sent to increase rainfall in Qinghai.

Dai believes that El Nino, a warming of the sea's surface in the Pacific that occurs every four to 12 years, contributed to the unusually low amount of rainfall in the region.

China's Ministry of Agriculture warned on Friday that the country's agricultural yields could be affected by El Nino and may cause both droughts and flooding.

This fall the effects of El Nino are expected to be medium to strong, which could result in excessive rainfall in south China and severe drought in the north.

Heavy rainfall has plagued eight provinces and one municipality in south China since Sunday, causing 10 deaths and leaving four missing, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs Tuesday. Endi