A national drought alert was issued on Friday as a long and intense heatwave in densely populated southwest China is forecast to continue into September. The loss of water flow in China’s extensive hydroelectric system has sparked a “serious situation” in Sichuan, which gets more than 80% of its energy from hydropower. On Sunday, the provincial government said it was at its highest warning level of “extremely serious”, with the flow of water in Sichuan’s hydropower reservoirs halved. Demand for electricity, meanwhile, has increased by 25 percent this summer, local media reported. Photo showing the low water levels of the Yangtze River in Wuhan – a result of this year’s drought. Photo: China Daily/Reuters Last week the province cut off or cut power to thousands of factories and reduced public power use due to the shortage. Toyota, Foxconn and Tesla are among the companies reported to have temporarily suspended operations at some factories in the past fortnight. On Sunday, the South China Morning Post reported that plans to restart production this week had been postponed. The Yangtze is the third largest river in the world, providing drinking water to more than 400 million Chinese people and is the most vital waterway for China’s economy. It is also vital to the global supply chain, but this summer it has reached low water levels, with entire sections and dozens of tributaries drying up. Water flow in the main body of the Yangtze is more than 50% below the average of the past five years. Coastal waterways in the middle and lower reaches of the river have also been closed, SCMP said. People admire themselves during a heatwave in Shanghai, China. The long-term heatwave in the south-west of the country is predicted to continue until September. Photo: Aly Song/Reuters Across affected areas of China, authorities are scrambling to secure water and electricity supplies as the region approaches harvest season for water-intensive crops such as rice and soybeans. On Sunday, authorities released 980 million cubic meters of water from reservoirs in an effort to replenish the river’s lowest levels, state media reported. The drought has affected at least 2.46 million people and 2.2 million hectares of farmland in Sichuan, Hebei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Chongqing. More than 780,000 people needed immediate government support due to the drought, according to China’s emergency management ministry. Drinking water has been trucked to areas where residential supplies have completely dried up. High temperatures in July alone caused direct economic losses of 2.73 billion yuan ($400 million), affecting 5.5 million people, the emergency ministry said last week. In the city of Chongqing the water level dropped to reveal previously submerged Buddhist statues believed to be around 600 years old. Around the world major rivers are drying up as record-breaking heatwaves take a devastating toll, including the Rhine and Loire in Europe and the Colorado River in the US. Bernice Lee, chair of the advisory board at the Chatham House sustainability accelerator in London, said societies, including China, have remained “unprepared and underprepared” for high-impact, low-probability events such as extreme droughts and heatwaves. “Looking ahead, as the frequency of extreme weather events appears to be increasing, the future could be even bleaker.” An infant tries to cool off during a heat wave in China’s Hunan province. Photo: Reuters Chinese authorities have repeatedly blamed the drought and heatwave on climate change. Chen Lijuan, chief meteorologist at the country’s national climate center, last week described the combined heat and drought as a “pressure cooker”. “We have to face the fact that similar heat waves will occur frequently in the future … it will become a new normal,” Chen said. However, the immediate impact on electricity supplies has put pressure on Beijing’s climate change commitments. Last week, Vice Premier Han Zheng said the government would step up support for coal-fired power generation. There are warnings of continued high temperatures and low rainfall. A red heat warning – the highest level of alert – was issued for the 10th consecutive day on Sunday across large parts of the country. Additional reporting by Vincent Ni, Xiaoqian Zhu and agencies
