2018年CRI Poyang Lake: a water coordinator of Yangtze

 

Poyang Lake, which connects to the Yangtze River near the city of Jiujiang, is the largest freshwater lake in China.

The area of the lake fluctuates dramatically between the wet and dry seasons, influencing water levels downstream.

However, the lake has shrunk in size over the years due to drought and sand quarrying².

The local government of Jiujiang has taken action to restore Poyang Lake's water, and strict measures are already in place.

For more on this we are now on the line with Yang Guang, CRI's reporter visiting Poyang Lake with the Streaming down the Yangtze team.

What is the relation between the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake in terms of water exchange?

Overall speaking the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake function as water complement³ to each other. 

This complementary relation is season based. A water engineering expert of Jiujiang told us that from April to June when there is a lot of rain in the upstream and midstream Yangtze, the water from Yangtze River majorly flows into Poyang Lake. In this way the lake functions as a cushion for the farmland and cities downstream the Yangtze in case of serious floods. Then the water flow direction would become the other way around from July to September when the rainfall capacity decreases along the upstream Yangtze and in winter when Three Gorges⁴ Dam started to store water for upstream Yangtze. The lake in this sense has turned into water supply to Yangtze and facilitates downstream river transportation and farmland irrigation.

I was told that the water flowing from Poyang Lake to Yangtze could reach 150 billion cubic meters in volume per year. That is about 15 percent of the total water flowing into Yangtze from tributaries⁵, lakes and wetlands. It is a very significant number. The big volume of fresh water that is added to the Yangtze along its way to the sea would also improve the water quality of down stream Yangtze.

What measures have been taken by the local government to resume the water quality of Poyang Lake?

The measures are mainly targeted at restricintg sand quarrying activities. Overly sand quarry¹ would make the river more turbid⁶ and more importantly lower the bottom level of Poyang Lake, affecting its water exchange with Yangtze due to bottom level differences. Additionally sand quarry would kill the aquatic⁷ plants in the lake and therefore weaken the water self-purification of the lake.

Yesterday we took a cruiser to observe the Poyang Lake and saw a clear boundary of two waters. The water from Yangtze River is clearly muddier and yellowish in color while that of Poyang Lake  is cleaner and green. Two waters’ meeting forms a visually very distinct line on the water surface seemingly separating two water bodies. Local officials told me that in the past few years, the situation was the other way around: lake water was muddier and river water was clearer. The changes have been made thanks to government’s efforts to ban sand quarry activities.

Meantime Jiujiang also strengthened its river chief and lake chief systems, aiming to eliminate the pollution source from the first place. And a green plant belt has been restored along the banks of the lake for ecological⁸ protection and prevention of land runoff.

With these efforts the size of the lake has been solidified⁹ in recent years and the lake water quality could reach Grade 2 or Grade 3, which means the water is drinkable after process.

That was CRI's Yang Guang with the Streaming down the Yangtze team.

1 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

2 quarrying   

v.采石；从采石场采得( quarry的现在分词 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石

参考例句：

• He spent much time in quarrying in old records. 他花了很多时间从旧记录中寻找资料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Township enterprises in trade, in commerce, mining, coking, quarrying, food service industry. 乡镇企业有商贸、采煤、炼焦、采石、饮食服务业。 来自互联网

3 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。

4 gorges   

n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕

参考例句：

• The explorers were confronted with gorges(that were)almost impassable and rivers(that were)often unfordable. 探险人员面临着几乎是无路可通的峡谷和常常是无法渡过的河流。 来自辞典例句
• We visited the Yangtse Gorges last summer. 去年夏天我们游历了长江三峡。 来自辞典例句

5 tributaries   

n. 支流

参考例句：

• In such areas small tributaries or gullies will not show. 在这些地区，小的支流和冲沟显示不出来。
• These tributaries are subsequent streams which erode strike valley. 这些支流系即为蚀出走向谷的次生河。

6 turbid   

adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的

参考例句：

• He found himself content to watch idly the sluggish flow of the turbid stream.他心安理得地懒洋洋地望着混浊的河水缓缓流着。
• The lake's water is turbid.这个湖里的水混浊。

7 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

8 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

9 solidified   

（使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的过去式和过去分词 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化

参考例句：

• Her attitudes solidified through privilege and habit. 由于特权和习惯使然，她的看法变得越来越难以改变。
• When threatened, he fires spheres of solidified air from his launcher! 当危险来临，他就会发射它的弹药！