| Wujiang | |
| Wu River | |
| River | |
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Wu River
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| Name origin: Named for 12 peaks of Wu Mountain | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
|---|---|
| State | Guizhou |
| Municipality | Chongqing |
| Part of | Yangtze River |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Furongjiang |
| - right | Yujiang |
| City | Fuling |
| Landmark | Wu Gorge |
| Source | Sancha |
| Mouth | Yangtze River |
| - location | Fuling, Eastern Chongqing Municipality |
| Length | 1,150 km (715 mi) |
| Basin | 80,300 km2 (31,004 sq mi) |
| Discharge | for Gongtan |
| - average | 1,108 m3/s (39,129 cu ft/s) [1] |
| - max | 3,340 m3/s (117,951 cu ft/s) |
| - min | 272 m3/s (9,606 cu ft/s) |
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Wujiang drainage basin
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Wu Jiang (乌江), known also as Wu River, is the largest southern tributary of the Yangtze River. Nearly its entire length of 1,150 kilometres (710 mi) runs within the mountainous and ethnically diverse region of Guizhou.
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The river begins as the Sancha in western Guizhou and flows eastwards about 350 kilometres (220 mi). It then bends north, west and south in an arc for about 300 kilometres (190 mi) called the Yachi, and merges with the Nanmingjiang from the right. After the Yachi, Wujiang makes a broad arc northeast through central Guizhou, picking up fifteen major tributaries including Yujiang from the east, Furongjiang from the south, and Yajiang from the southwest. It then crosses the border into the provincial-level municipality of Chongqing, past Wushan, Badong and Zigui, and flows into the Yangtze River at Fuling, in the Three Gorges region, some 50 miles (80 km) east-northeast of Chongqing City. A segment of the lower course of the river is flooded by the reservoir of Three Gorges Dam. Hydroelectric power stations have also been constructed along Wujiang and some of its major tributaries.[2]
Fuling is regarded as the first town along Wujiang. The city was the capital of the ancient Ba state in the Sichuan area, which frequently conflicted with the neighboring state of Chu. By the Qin Dynasty, the Wujiang area had been brought under control of China.
Many of the small river towns along Wujiang, such as Gongtan, date back to as early as 200 A.D.
The Wu Gorge is also known as "Golden Helmet and Silver Armor Gorge". The name originates from a somewhat helmet-shaped rock formation above the river and a silver-covered cliff of slate. Another name for Wu Gorge is "Iron Coffin Gorge".
The Wujiang has been extensively developed for hydroelectricity, and is important as a regional power and water source. As of 2005, dams along the main stem had a capacity to generate 1,800 MW. Almost all of these dams were constructed and owned by the Wujiang Hydropower Corporation. This capacity is expected to rise to 8,500 MW by 2010.[3] The largest dam, the 232-metre (761 ft) Goupitan Dam, was completed in November 2004 and is expected to start operation in 2009.[4] Many of the dams on the Wujiang also serve to divert water eastwards for irrigation purposes.[5]
Wujiang and many other tributaries of the Yangtze are heavily polluted, especially in their lower course, because of poor sewage systems and dumping of agricultural waste. The lower river is now suitable only for navigation, and cannot even be used for irrigation.[6]
The Wujiang's drainage basin spreads over 80,300 square kilometres (31,000 sq mi) in south-central China. The watershed has always been very isolated and cut off from much of the rest of the region because of the topography. By the 1950s, the lower 480 kilometres (300 mi) of the river were dredged of sediment and hundreds of sets of rapids were blasted. (Navigation on the upper river still reflects how it was on the Yangtze in the Three Gorges region before Three Gorges Dam was constructed.) With the creation of Three Gorges Dam's reservoir, navigation on Wujiang has increased significantly. Districts of Guizhou that the Wujiang flows through include Liupanshui, Anshun, Guiyang (the capital), Qiannan, and Zunyi. All of the nine districts in Guizhou at least drain partially to Wujiang.
About 40 kilometres (25 mi) of the river's lower course forms an arm of the Wu Gorge (Big Gorge or Second Gorge) of the Three Gorges, now submerged in up to 30 metres (100 ft) of water from Three Gorges Reservoir. In late 2008, geological instabilities caused landslides with volumes of 20,000 and 50,000 cubic metres (26,000 and 65,000 cu yd). It is speculated that the former slide is part of a larger unstable slope with as much as 100,000 cubic metres (130,000 cu yd). The latter slide caused a wave that swamped boats up to 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away.[7]