The mammoth Three Gorges Reservoir is now ready for any possible grave flood with its water storage to hit 150 meters high in the coming rain season.

It will then prevent 15 million population in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River from being inundated, said an official with China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation (CYRTGPDC).

Completed on May 20, the 185-meter-high main dam of the Three Gorges Project is in place for flood control two years ahead of schedule. Its cofferdam was demolished on June 6.

"With a storage capacity of over 8 billion cubic meters, the dam is capable of withstanding the gravest flood in the past century," said Yuan Jie, director of the Cascaded Dispatch Center of CYRTGPDC.

Composed of 23 floodwater sluices and 14 bottom floodgates, the dam is able to handle a crest at a speed up to 88,400 cubic meters per second.

The flood control plan approved by the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters required the water level of the dam to be kept within 150 meters high during the flood season this summer.

"Up till now, we have been fully prepared in all aspects for combating any possible atrocious floods," said Yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2006)