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BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Faced with a prolonged drought in parts of southern China, government officials and residents are making efforts to ensure sufficient drinking water and grain production. China's national observatory confirmed that severe drought has swept through the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including most parts of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, and southern Anhui and southeastern Hubei provinces. Precipitation in some parts of the provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui was 80 percent less compared with the same period of an average year, according to monitoring data. Jiangxi issued a red alert for drought on Friday. The water level at Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, which is located in Jiangxi, dropped to its lowest on the same day since record-keeping began in 1951. Ma Wenping, a fruit grower in Gaocun Village of Ji'an City, Jiangxi, was relieved when a pipe of over 1,100 meters in length linked a canal with his village a few days ago. "I own over 66 hectares of pomelos. It is now the critical period for the growing of the fruit and a water shortage may lead to yield reduction. The newly built pipe and drought relief efforts helped me and other fruit growers solve the problem of irrigation," Ma said. In Hunan Province, the original irrigation sources of Liangting Village have almost dried up due to continuous high temperatures and low precipitation. To ensure water supply, local governments have worked with villagers to dig more than 40 wells. "We are experiencing a very severe drought this year. We have dug new wells and we don't worry about the water anymore," said Xu Guanghua, Party chief of Liangting Village.
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