Recently, the phenomenon of garbage covering part of Poyang Lake’s surface has sparked discussions online. Local environmental officials have confirmed the situation.
On July 1st, a resident of Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province, posted a video showing that part of the watershed in Duchang County of Poyang Lake was filled with garbage, triggering widespread discussions among netizens. In the video, a vast expanse of the lake’s surface is dominated by floating garbage and tree branches, with only a small portion of water visible in the distance.
The topic of “Garbage Surrounding the Duchang County Watershed of Poyang Lake” instantly went viral on the internet. The expansive lake surface seems to be tightly wrapped in a grey “veil.” Looking out, one can see densely packed floating debris – branches, foam, plastic bottles… they either cling together tightly or drift with the waves, turning the lake into a garbage-filled sea.
On July 3rd, Jiujiang News reported that on the morning of the 2nd, they contacted Ms. Wu, the person who posted the video. She explained that the situation had been going on for several days, with the lake covered in branches, foam, plastic bottles, and other garbage.
“It should be that the wind has been blowing in this direction these past few days, bringing garbage from other places with the waves. It has been raining every day, causing the water level of Poyang Lake to rise rapidly,” she said, expressing her hope to see a clean and beautiful Poyang Lake soon.
A staff member from the Duchang County Ecology and Environment Bureau responded by confirming the situation. The large amount of garbage on the surface of Poyang Lake is mainly due to recent strong winds blowing in this direction, causing some floating debris and trash on the lake to converge in that area.
He mentioned that the sight of garbage reaching the shore of Poyang Lake is indeed unsightly, affecting the daily lives of residents and contradicting the efforts to “create the most beautiful shoreline of Poyang Lake.”
When asked if the water level of Poyang Lake will continue to rise, the staff member stated that currently, the water level of the Yangtze River has risen higher than that of Poyang Lake, causing river water to flood into the lake, resulting in a view where “all you see is water.”
At 6:31 am on July 2nd, the Jiangxi Province Hydrological Water Resources Monitoring Center continued to issue a red flood warning. Due to persistent heavy rainfall and the influence of upstream inflow, the water level of Xiuhu River rose rapidly. By the morning of July 2nd, the water level in the Qiujin section of Xiuhu River reached 25.3 meters, surpassing the warning level by 4.8 meters and breaking the historical record high water level of 25.29 meters in 1993. It is predicted that within the next five hours, a flood exceeding the warning level by 4.9 meters may occur.