In 1985 the reservoir administration bureau signed contracts with seven dredging companies, which began dredging silt around the clock. Over a decade they fetched out some 10 million cubic meters of sediment from above and below the dam. But with silt flowing into the reservoir at an average rate of 1.5 million tonnes a year, the dam was still filling up faster than it could be dredged.
七十四年，管理局與七家抽砂場簽約，開始夜以繼日的抽砂，十年，大壩上、下游共抽除約一千萬立方公呎淤砂，但泥砂以每年平均一百五十萬數量入庫，淹多、抽少，抽不勝抽。