The water level in the Yangtze River's middle and lower reaches has hit a record low as drought continues to plague regions along the river.

Levels in the Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui sections were 0.45 to 0.97 of a meter lower than the previous record for the same period in 1972, said E Jingping, head of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

With drought and high temperatures since July, water levels in the upper reaches of the Yangtze dropped to the lowest in history last week.

In the past week, some places in North China saw heavy rainfalls of 25 mm to 100 mm, easing the drought in Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu.

However, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze are still suffering severe drought, including Chongqing municipality.

The drought has affected 113 million mu (7.53 million hectares) of cropland, 12 million mu (800,000 hectares) more than the average.

Low water levels have affected water use from the Yangtze River, as farmers began to pump water from the river to irrigate crops, said E.

China suffered drought in some areas, but floods in other regions due to a series of tropical rainstorms and typhoons this year.

By Wednesday, 16.53 million people and 15.93 million livestock were short of drinking water, said sources with the headquarters.

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2006)