Aerial photo taken on May 10, 2020 shows a view of the Three Gorges Dam in early morning after a rain in central China's Hubei Province. (Photo by Zheng Jiayu/Xinhua)

The China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), the operator of The Three Gorges Project, on Wednesday gave a detailed briefing on the performance of the mega project, noting that it is running very well and bringing remarkable benefits regarding navigation, power generation and water resource utilization. 

Chinese experts recently dismissed rumors circulated by some foreign media that the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest hydropower project, is at risk of collapse, noting that the dam is intact and has spare capacity to hold the current inflows of water after southern parts of China experienced heavy rainfall and the Three Gorges reservoir's water level exceeded the flood control line.

CTG said on Sina Weibo that in the first half this year, the accumulated water inflow of the Three Gorges reservoir was 149.947 billion cubic meters, 12.4 percent higher than the average since the reservoir was built.

The Three Gorges reservoir reduced its water to the flood limit level two days ahead of schedule on June 8, in preparation for flood control work. During the period, the reservoir replenished the downstream areas with a total of 22.92 billion cubic meters of water, effectively ensuring that demand was being met for living and production during the epidemic in Central China's Hubei Province and other middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

According to CTG, the navigation benefits of the Three Gorges Project have been brought into full play in the first half of 2020. During this period, the Three Gorges Project lock operated safely and reliably, with a total of 66.87 million tons of freight passing through. Although that figure represents a 7.6 percent decrease year on year as a result of the epidemic, the smooth transport of key medical materials has been ensured.

The monitoring indexes of the Three Gorges Dam, power station, navigation and other buildings are all within permissible range, and the reservoir area as a whole remains safe and stable. The overall water quality and ecological environment are good, said the CTG.