Low rainfall levels forces Yangtze dredging

Low rainfall levels forces Yangtze dredging    Abnormally low rainfall levels in China will force the country to dredge shipping channels on the Yangtze River, the Shanghai Daily reported Wednesday.
   The newspaper said dredgers have been redirected away from offshore construction sites in North China to make parts of the river safe for navigation. The river typically benefits from a surge during the May flood season.
   'Though it's already the flood season, the water level in the river has kept dropping, which has hindered navigation,' Wan Dabin, a senior official with the Yangtze River Waterway Bureau, told the newspaper.
   The receding water levels come just weeks after the Chinese government raised the safe navigable depth for deep inland portions of the river from 5.0 to 7.5 meters.