Hongyashan Reservoir in northwest China's Gansu Province, the largest desert reservoir in Asia, began to store water again after being dry for 70 days.

On June 28 this year, the reservoir, located in Minqin County of Gansu, dried up for the first time in 50 years when sources feeding it decreased. With no reservoir, locals faced water shortages.

Currently, the surface of the water is six or seven sq km, in the wake of rainfall over the past few days and diversion of 9 million cubic meters of water from a reservoir at the Shiyang River.

An expert predicted that the water surface will continue to expand when more water is diverted into the reservoir.

Hongyashan Reservoir, built in 1958, originally has a water surface of 25 sq km. It not only irrigates 60,000 hectares of farmland, but also prevented the joining-up of the Badain Jaran Desert and the Tengger Desert on both sides.

The local government promised to divert more water into the reservoir, carry out water-saving economy and enhance unified management of water resources in the region in future.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2004)