There will be little possibility for China to raise the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir to the final target of 175 meters within this year as drought lingers in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River and dry season of the river approaches, local water conservation experts said Thursday.

The reservoir is a major part of the mammoth Three Gorges Project that is located at the middle reach of the Yangtze River, China's longest.

Water level up to the 175-meter mark is seen as a symbol for the thorough completion of the Project, which began in 1993 with the aim to tame the unruly river and to fuel China's economic development with clean and cheap energy.

In mid September, China planned to raise the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir to 175 meters in late October or early November.

However, to help relieve the downstream drought, the reservoir was ordered by Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters to sluice the same volume of water as that of water flowing into it from the upper reach of the Yangtze over the past few weeks.

From October 19 to November 10, water outflow from the reservoir was 4 billion cubic meters more than the previous plan, according to the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Meanwhile, water inflow from the upper reach of the Yangtze River to the reservoir averaged 8,260 cubic meters per second in early November, down 34 percent from the year-earlier level because of less precipitation.

By 4:00 PM Wednesday, the reservoir's water level stood at around 170.65 meters.

The Three Gorges Project, China's massive multi-functional water control facility, cost 184.9 billion yuan (US$27.19 billion) to build, which is within the budget.

Its main works include a dam, a five-tier ship lock, and 32 turbines each with an installed capacity of 700,000 kw.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2009)