In recent times, floods have been frequent in southern China, often accompanied by reservoir water discharge which exacerbates the disaster, leading to public questioning of the authorities for not providing timely notifications. A video circulating online showing a sudden rise in water levels in a flood-affected area in Meizhou has sparked concern. Experts point out that in China, whenever there is a flood, it often necessitates reservoir water discharge, which raises issues related to the system.
On June 23, Chinese media reported that on June 16, in Blue Creek Town, Shanghang County, Longyan, Fujian Province, villagers reported that water from an upstream reservoir was released, causing a rapid rise in floodwaters that led to the collapse of houses and the tragic death of some family members.
A woman named Han described the events of June 16, saying, “It rained all day, and around 9:30 pm, the water level quickly rose to over 2 meters, resulting in the collapse of our house, burying my mother-in-law.” Images provided by her show wet marks on the walls, indicating the sudden surge of floodwaters was significant.
However, officials claimed that the water release was carried out “in accordance with the standard release procedures and planning,” while the town government stated that villagers were notified in advance to evacuate.
Local government employees stated that they informed villagers to evacuate through phone calls, text messages, and broadcasting. Regarding villagers claiming they did not receive evacuation notices due to flooding, one staff member explained, “The flood was quite severe, and the town government received many public inquiries, which we are currently handling and addressing on a case-by-case basis.”
The response from mainland Chinese netizens varied:
“Don’t act self-righteous. Whether there were notifications about the water release and evacuation is the main issue. People died because of the collapsed houses and flooding. The main responsibility lies with the town government!”
“Why didn’t they evacuate after receiving notifications? It’s their own recklessness that made them stay. The elderly are puzzled why their children didn’t convince or help them evacuate. When accidents happen, children come forward to demand compensation.”
“You are talking nonsense! Was there no inspection before the water release? What if someone didn’t receive or see the notifications? Are you sure everyone saw the notices right away?”
“If proper notifications were sent out, and everyone else managed to move to safe areas while they didn’t, then it’s their fault. If no notifications were received, then it is government negligence. There’s a big difference between the two.”
“Human error. Can’t the water release be controlled orderly?”
“Why were the houses situated in the flood discharge area?”
“The water release should be done before heavy rainfall in an orderly manner, releasing water during heavy rain is dangerous! Water discharge should be controlled scientifically!”
On June 16, 2024, the Huangtian Reservoir in Huayuan Village, Pingyuan County, Meizhou City, suddenly released water, with monitoring capturing the flooding of a courtyard in Zhangyan Village, Pingyuan County, showing a local water level surge of two meters within three hours. Authorities reported that as of 3 p.m. on June 21, heavy rainfall disasters in Pingyuan County, Meizhou City, had resulted in 38 deaths and 2 missing persons. Due to the consistent cover-up by the Chinese Communist Party, the reliability of the data has been heavily questioned.
Several Chinese netizens on social media platforms have raised doubts about the significant casualties due to the water release: “During Qingming Festival, there was also heavy rain but we were warned, and ultimately, we safely crossed through it. Rain is something that we can safely endure, but this time, it was caused by the water discharge from the upstream reservoirs.”
“Why blame it on natural disasters? It rained continuously, and everything was fine until the point when the upstream released water suddenly. The article doesn’t even mention the water discharge.”
On June 23, a video from Sichuan Radio and Television was reported by “Pepper Video,” showing the rising water levels in a village in Anhui. In a span of about ten minutes, the water rose four to five meters. The report highlighted that the village party secretary discovered the rapid rise in water early in the morning, promptly notified the villagers to evacuate, yet many vehicles were washed away. The video was filmed after five in the morning on a recent day.
However, the report did not mention the reasons behind the sudden rise in water levels and did not disclose whether the higher authorities or reservoir management issued any flood discharge notifications.
In China, flooding often coincides with authorities conducting water discharge, which has become a common practice. Water discharge from reservoirs often leads to a sudden influx of floodwaters, resulting in disasters.
On June 20, heavy rainfall inundated Anhui’s Huangshan region, with She County being heavily affected, causing houses and vehicles to be washed away and several people to go missing.
According to a report by CCTV News on June 20, the water level of the Fengle Reservoir in Huangshan, Anhui, rose rapidly from 195 meters to 202 meters within 24 hours, exceeding its flood control level. Starting from noon on June 20, the discharge flow rate of the Fengle Reservoir was increased to 400 cubic meters per second, with the expectation of reducing the reservoir’s water level by 0.1 meters per hour, and further adjustments would be made based on the rainfall situation.
Renowned hydraulic expert Wang Weiluo stated to Epoch Times on June 21 that Chinese reservoirs have a specified flood control water level (officially defined as the water level that must not be exceeded during flood seasons, mandating discharge in excess), but this is a low water level inside the reservoir. There is considerable capacity between the flood control level and the normal water storage level, which is originally meant for flood storage. You cannot release water just because it exceeds the flood control level, otherwise, the flood storage capacity would be nullified. “But why release water immediately upon surpassing the flood control level? It’s because the Chinese Communist Party has implemented a reservoir chief responsibility system. Due to concerns about poor dam quality, the managers are very afraid of dam breaches, so they prefer to release water first.”
Whether the authorities provided advance notices to citizens for evacuation before the water discharge is now a contentious issue.
At the end of July and the beginning of August 2023, flood disasters occurred in North China. Multiple residents of Zhuozhou in Baoding, Hebei Province, stated that the government did not issue evacuation notices before the discharge from the Beijing reservoir, resulting in hundreds of thousands of residents being trapped in flooded areas.
On June 19 of this year, after continuous heavy rainfall, the Lijiang River in Guilin, Guangxi, surged, leading to the flooding of Guilin Railway Station. The public complained that the authorities’ water discharge caused the situation, while officials argued that “the upstream reservoir was full, and they could only passively discharge as much as the incoming water.” The official also admitted room for improvement in terms of early warnings.
While occasional water discharge incidents occur in other countries, they often choose to discharge water towards sparsely populated areas. In 2011, the United States opened the Morganza floodway in central Louisiana, with 125 massive gates diverting floodwaters from the upper reaches of the Mississippi River into the sparsely populated Atchafalaya Basin swamp, protecting the city of New Orleans from flooding.
In recent years, the United States has dismantled numerous dams, yet the Chinese Communist Party continues to allocate huge funds for maintaining old and dangerous reservoirs. Wang Weiluo stated that China currently has nearly one hundred thousand reservoirs, with roughly three-quarters of them being unsafe, to put it lightly.