On July 7, the Gezhouba Dam opened floodgates to release water from its upstream reservoir, the Three Gorges Reservoir. Rainfall has continued to increase in Yichang and surrounding areas since late June. As the last line of defense against flooding, the accumulated reservoir capacity of the Three Gorges Reservoir is ultimately discharged through the Gezhouba Dam reservoir downstream. In the past few days, the Gezhouba WaterProject opened floodgates to discharge floods according to the flood control plans of the Yangtze Riverto reducethe flood peaks discharged by the Three Gorges Dam and reserve sufficient flood control capacity for the Three Gorges Dam.