As the second flood peak slowly passed Linhuaigang in Huoqiu County where the largest water conservation project on the Huaihe River is under construction, possibilities of dike explosion at the Jiangjia Lake to divert the river's flood water is diminishing.

This was disclosed here Sunday by the Huoqiu Flood Control Headquarters in east China's Anhui Province.

While the flood crest arrived at the county Saturday noon, water level at Linhuaigang quickly rose to the record high of 27.07 meters by 6:00 p.m., imposing great pressure to the flood diversion area at the Jiangjia Lake and embankment on the lower reaches of the Huaihe River.

To cope with the situation, the headquarters ordered an immediate uplift of a sluice gate at the Donghu Lake, which has raised water discharge from 1,200 cubic meters per second to 1,600cubic meters and successfully contained water swelling by 8:00 p.m.

By 8:00 a.m. Sunday, the water level at Linhuaigang dropped from the record high to 27.02 meters and the level on the mainstream section between Wangjiaba and Zhengyangguan is also receding.

Headquarters chief Liu Liansheng said that the emergency move had effectively weakened the pressure imposed by the flood peak ona water conservation project under construction at Linhuaigang and solidified the hope of securing the embankment at the Jiangjia Lake.

Earlier, the headquarters had taken explosion of the dike at the lake as an emergency measure to divert rising flood water if the situation got worse.

Long submerged in water, the Jiangjia Lake embankment begun to leak water. Thousands of workers and soldiers are reinforcing the dike so that it may stand the test of an approaching flood peak.

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2003)