The swollen Huaihe River, China's third longest river, has entered a critical period of flood control, officials said on Tuesday.

Officials with the flood control headquarters of Jiangsu Province said the rainy season would end in two days, but dikes faced an increased risk of breaches after weeks of pressure from high water levels.

The officials estimated the level in the Jiangsu section of the Huaihe River would remain dangerously high for at least the next 10 days.

The level of Hongze Lake on the lower reaches of the Huaihe rose one centimeter to 13.78 meters at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, 28 centimeters above the danger line.

Fifteen billion cubic meters of water has been discharged from Hongze Lake since July 4, but another 13 billion cubic meters were coming in from the upper reaches of the Huaihe River.

Jiangsu provincial government has dispatched 150,000 people to patrol the dikes since the beginning of July. The province has invested 67 million yuan (US$8.8 million) in reinforcing 400 dikes.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2007)