(TeluguPortal, Oct 30, 2006) Changsha (China), Oct 30 (Xinhua) China's second biggest freshwater lake, Dongting, will disappear from the earth after a century because of accumulated silt, experts have warned.

"One hundred years later, Dongting Lake with sprawling water surface will become a memory in books," says Liu Guangyue, director of Dongting Lake Section of the Hunan Provincial Water Resources Bureau.

Liu hopes that the construction of the Three Gorges Project on the middle reaches of the Yangtze, China's longest river, might slow the pace of the disappearance of Dongting Lake, second only after Poyang Lake in east China.

"The dam will hold back large quantity of silt that might bury lakes in the lower reaches of the Yangtze," he said.

Dongting Lake, currently with a water area of 2,625 sq km, is situated alongside the lower reaches of the Yangtze in northeastern Hunan province. It is named after the hill on its northeast.

The waters of Xiangjiang, Zishui, Yuanjiang snd Lishui rivers flow into Dongting Lake from the south and west, while the Yangtze enters from the north and goes out at the town of Chenglingji on the northeast. The lake thus serves to regulate the waters of the five rivers.

Dongting Lake used to have a water area of 6,000 sq km at peak time but shrank to 4,350 sq km in the early 1950s because of factors such as silting and land reclamation by mankind, according to Liu.

About 2.7 billion cubic metres of silt landed in Dongting Lake between 1951 and 1978, according to official statistics.

The climate in the lake basin is temperate and rainfall plentiful. The alluvial plain around the lake is good for rice and cotton. This lake abounds in aquatic products and is good for shipping service.

Dongting Lake is at its lowest level of water in 30 years because of extensive drought in the Yangtze river valley.
source:TeluguPortal