China declared a high temperature red alert on Wednesday. To fight the resultant drought and guarantee agricultural irrigation, water has been released from reservoirs. At least 400 million cubic meters of water will be channeled into the middle- and lower-reaches of the Yangtze River in the coming days.

Since mid-June, the precipitation in the Yangtze River Basin has changed. In the first ten days of August, the average precipitation in the Yangtze River Basin was over 60 percent less than the recorded average in the same period of the year. Affected by increasingly high temperatures and a lack of rain, many places along the river are now experiencing varying degrees of drought.
The precipitation in the Yangtze River Basin in July was over 30 percent less than the average in the recorded average in same period of the year, according to the Changjiang Water Resources Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources. The Yangtze River and the Poyang Lake water system have seen a 50 percent drop the lower reaches which has been the lowest recorded amount in the same period in the last decade.
Provinces and cities such as Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Chongqing, and Sichuan have initiated emergency responses to counter the worsening drought.

At a wharf by a local maritime bureau on the bank of the Yangtze River in Yunyang, Chongqing, after a drop in the water level, the tidal flat is exposed on Tuesday. (Photos: People's Daily)

A technical staff member of the Camellia oleifera seedling center oversees the irrigation of seedlings in Yanjia village, Jiangxi Province, on Thursday.

Volunteers help villagers pump water to irrigate paddy fields in Qingpiyuan village, Hunan Province, on Wednesday.

Workers use sprinklers to irrigate soybean plants in a factory farm to fight drought at a community in Guang'an City, Sichuan Province, on Tuesday.

Volunteers irrigate plants to counter the drought in Qingtai village, Neijiang, Sichuan Province, on Wednesday.

Local authorities use fire trucks to deliver water to residents in Bamao village, Songtao Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, on Tuesday.

Farmers irrigate their autumn crops to counter the drought in the fields of Feizhuang village, Nanyang, Henan Province, on Tuesday.

Fruit farmers erect sunshades to increase drought resistance in the Fiji orchard planting center in Shaduntou village, Jiande, Zhejiang Province, on Tuesday.

A farmer inspects a water pump in the Huanghu River bed in Digang township, Wuhu City, Anhui Province, on Monday.

Villagers fetch water at a centralized water supply center in Wuyi village, Chongqing, on Monday.

(Compiled by Dong Feng)