Beijing's Miyun Reservoir working smoothly despite record inflow of water

Beijing's Miyun Reservoir has remained stable and is discharging smoothly despite facing unprecedented inflows and water levels after days of torrential rain, officials said at a news conference on Thursday.

This round of heavy rainfall placed significant pressure on the operation of the Miyun Reservoir. At 9 pm on Saturday, the inflow of water into the reservoir began to increase sharply from 569 cubic meters per second to 6,550 cubic meters per second in six hours, a volume that could fill the Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace in just five minutes, according to Xia Linmao, executive deputy mayor of Beijing.

"Subsequently, the water level reached 155.59 meters and the water storage volume reached 3.63 billion cubic meters. These indicators are all unprecedented and pose a threat to the safety of the reservoir," he said.

The reservoir has steadily increased the flood discharge volume and strengthened the monitoring and inspection of the reservoir dam and downstream river embankments.

Forces were deployed in both directions at both ends of the 64 bridges along the discharge river of the reservoir, Xia added.

Yu Weiguo, Party Secretary of Miyun district, said the reservoir is discharging smoothly.

"We will continue to closely monitor reservoirs, rivers and areas prone to geological disasters, intensify inspection and protection efforts, and strictly prevent secondary disasters."

Liu Bin, director of Beijing Water Authority, said the flood entering the reservoir featured a high peak, massive volume, and rapid rise.

Thanks to the reservoir's effective flood detention and regulation, the downstream areas of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei were shielded from the worst impacts, Liu added.

By 9 pm on Wednesday, the water level began to recede. As of Thursday noon, it had fallen to 155.38 meters, with a storage volume of 3.593 billion cubic meters. The reservoir dam remains safe and stable, Liu added.

"Based on rainfall forecasts and subsequent water inflow conditions, we will promptly assess the trend of water level changes in the reservoir, and strive to do well in the subsequent flood control dispatching of the reservoir," Liu added.