Heavy precipitation caused a sharply rising flood in the Dawen River, located in east China's Shandong Province, causing the water level of the local reservoir above the warning line Monday, local source said. The Dawen is a branch of the Yellow River.

Frequent precipitation brings the Dawen River a long-term flood season this summer, which makes heavy pressure to the Dongping Lake, a flood storage project at the confluence of the river and the main stream of the Yellow River.

Zhang Yuguo from the Dongping Lake Administration said that the rainfall from Thursday to Sunday, with an average precipitation of 95 mm, brought the river a flood crest measuring 1,680 cubic meters per second.

As of Monday morning, the water level of Dongping Lake exceeded the warning line.

Experts say that the high water level will remain for eight to ten days, putting huge pressure to the flood control work.

The administration is now organizing the reinforcement of dykes and embankments.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2004)