China has refilled its largest freshwater lake Baiyangdian in a five-month operation with diverted water from the Yellow River, saving the lake from drying out as a result of its headwaters being used for Olympic emergency water supply reservoirs.

A total of 156 million cubic meters of water from the country's second longest river had been injected into the lake in the northen Hebei Province by early yesterday morning, said the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Stricken by continuous drought, the lake has seen water levels drop sharply over the past few years after its nearest water sources were diverted to back up Beijing Oympics.

After the refill was completed, the surface area of the lake more than doubled to 140 from 60 square kilometers, the office said.

"The project is an important part of the work to ensure water supply for the Olympics and protect north China's ecological environment," it said.

With water coming through a 400-meter route from the Huanghan Lock Gate in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, Baiyangdian saw its water level rise to 7.42 meters from 6.2 meters. The official gauge of dryness for the lake is 6.5 meters.

The lake's water line dropped to 6.32 meters because of scant rain fall last October, causing damage to the local ecological system and affecting 230,000 residents, according to project organizers. The 148-day project was launched in January, the second such project since November 2006, when the lake was hit by the worst drought in half a decade.

Three of the lake's upstream reservoirs provide 300 million cubic meters of backup water for Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2008)