Waters from the Yellow River flowed into Tianjin in North China yesterday to save the municipality from serious drought for the eighth time in its history.

The water, diverted on September 12 at Weishan Gate in East China's Shandong Province, has run for nearly 10 days at a speed of 95 cubic metres per second. It arrived at Tianjin's Jiuxuan Gate yesterday morning, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The route the Yellow River water followed this time is the winding path it took last year, flowing through Shandong and Hebei provinces into Tianjin - a total length of 580 kilometres in all.

Tianjin has suffered continuous drought since 1997, and rain has been scarce again this year, causing Panjiakou Reservoir - Tianjin's water source - to fail once again.

The area's municipal government has taken multiple measures to economize on water use, including raising water prices, restricting usage, and using recycled water whenever possible. Desalinatinated seawater has also been used.

The moves have successfully lowered the city's daily water consumption from 2.2 million cubic metres to 1.5 million cubic metres.

However, Tianjin's urban areas are still confronted with serious water shortfalls.

Experts estimate that starting from September to next June 30, urban areas will demand as much as 500 million additional cubic metres of water.

To ensure Tianjin will have enough water, the State Council agreed to introduce Yellow River water to Tianjin for the eighth time.

According to the plan, a total of 1.2 billion cubic metres of Yellow River water will be discharged from Shandong. As much as 500 million cubic metres of water will finally flow through Tianjin's Jiuxuan Gate to reach downtown Tianjin. The whole project is expected to take about 170 days to complete.

Sources with Xiaolangdi Reservoir - a major reservoir on Yellow River - said that reservoir can provide plenty of water to assist Tianjin.

Statistics showed that Xiaolangdi has enjoyed the highest water reserve on record, with 6.28 billion cubic metres recorded by September 10 - 4.86 billion cubic metres more water than on the same day last year.

Experts with the Yellow River Conservancy Commission said the reservoir has not only played an important role in preventing flood damage in the lower reaches this year, but has helped fight drought in those areas.

Tianjin, a beneficiary of that generosity, is one of China's cities that lacks water most.

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