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© Cheng Min / AP
Record-high water levels at China's massive Three Gorges Dam have called into question Beijing's claims that the world's largest hydroelectric project could withstand a 10,000-year flood.

On Friday, the water level reached 158.86 meters (522 feet), only 16 meters (52 feet) away from the reservoir's maximum capacity of 175 meters (574 feet), the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing reservoir engineers. Given the continued flooding, the levels could easily rise higher.

Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei urged those responsible to continue to inspect and protect dams and reservoirs as well as prepare for heavy rainfalls. Work teams have been dispatched to areas including Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu to coordinate flood-fighting efforts, Xinhua said.

China has for years promoted the Three Gorges Dam as the best way to end centuries of floods along the Yangtze River basin and dismissed complaints about the enormous environmental impact of the $23 billion reservoir that has displaced more than 1.4 million people.

Seven years ago, Chinese officials boasted that the Three Gorges Dam could withstand the floods so severe they come only once every 10,000 years. But as the current flooding shows no sign of waning, officials warn that its capacity is limited.

Zhao Yunfa, deputy director of the China Three Gorges Corporation's dispatch center, said this week that the dam's capacity can only withstand floods that reach up to 3 million cubic feet (83,700 cubic meters) per second - only about 18 percent more than the dam's record water flow on Tuesday, the China Daily newspaper reported.

"The dam's flood control capacity is not unlimited," Zhao told the newspaper.