The Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze River will face its first major flood-control test yet Tuesday as the flow on the river's upper reaches nears 70,000 cubic meters a second -- 20,000 cubic meters more than the flow during the 1998 floods that killed 4,150 people.

After continuous rains, the flow on the upper Three Gorges stretch has more than doubled from Sunday's 30,000 cubic meters a second and is expected to reach 69,000 cubic meters a second on Monday or Tuesday, the highest level since the project became operational in 2009, said an official of China Three Gorges Corporation.

As of 8 a.m. Monday, the flood peak had reached 58,000 cubic meters a second in the upper Three Gorges, compared with 50,000 cubic meters a second during the 1998 floods, the official said.

The discharge of the Three Gorges Dam was raised to 40,000 cubic meters a second at 10 a.m. and would remain at that level till 3 p.m., when the situation would be reviewed, the official said.

Flooding had been infrequent since 1998 and the flood control work would be severe, said an an emergency notice from the Bureau of Hydrographic, Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, on Monday.

Heavy rains had increased the volumes of the Yangtze's mainstream and branches, especially the upper Jialing and Mintuo rivers, said the notice.

The commission's Bureau of Hydrography ordered the stations on Yangtze River system to monitor water levels Monday.

All the 118 hydrological stations of Yangtze River had all realized real-time reports, but the monitoring work should be reinforced in the current situation, said Wang Jun, director of the bureau.

Personnel and equipment should be ready, Wang said.

Since the beginning of July, torrential rains and severe flooding have left 146 people dead and 40 missing and forced the evacuation of more than 1.3 million people in 10 provinces, mostly along the Yangtze River, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2010)