China maps out blueprint to harness Yellow River
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E-mail Xinhua, March 31, 2013
China will build three more large-scale reservoirs on the troublesome Yellow River, the nation's second-longest river, after authorities gave a green light to a harnessing plan earlier this month.
After six years of programming, the State Council, or China's cabinet, has approved the Comprehensive Plan for the Yellow River Basin (2012-2030), focusing on solving the problems of the Yellow River from now to 2030.
According to the plan, the three new reservoirs will be Heishanxia, Qikou and Guxian.
The Guxian Reservoir is expected to completed around 2020. The Qikou reservoir will be built after Guxian and construction plans for the Heishanxia reservoir are still in the making.
The newly approved plan will mainly focus on water and silt control, flood prevention, water and soil erosion prevention, water resource allocation and utilization, water resource and water ecology protection and the drainage areas' comprehensive management.
The further development of the Yellow River, as well as programs for irrigation and shipping, are also part of the plan.
The Yellow River, known as China's "Mother River" and the cradle of early Chinese civilization, runs through nine provinces and autonomous regions and empties into the Bohai Sea in east China's Shandong Province.
With a length of 5,464 km, the Yellow River waters 12 percent of China's 1.3 billion population, 15 percent of its farmland and generates about 14 percent of its GDP.
"The Yellow River lacks water resources and the water supply obtained from the river at present is beyond its capacity," said Chen Xiaojiang, director of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources.
Statistics show that nearly 160 million tonnes of sand is washed into the Yellow River each year.
Records have shown that the Yellow River dried up frequently between the 1970s and 1990s. In 1997, statistics from a hydrological station indicated that a 704-km section of river had dried up for 226 days.
The government, experts and other relevant organizations have taken action since 1999 to prolong the life of the river.
"The key to bringing the river under control is to control its water and sand," said Chen.
The development, protection and management of the Yellow River will have strategic significance for the promotion of China's sustainable development and environmental protection efforts, Chen added.
Because of excessive exploitation and a rapidly growing population in the past, the river has been plagued by droughts, water and soil erosion disasters in its middle and upper reaches, as well as sediment, floods and a rising riverbed caused by heavy silt in its lower reaches.
So far, four water reservoirs have been built on the main stream of the river.
Located on the upper reaches of the river, the Longyangxia and Liujiaxia reservoirs have helped to improve water management and electricity production, as well as reduce the number of ice-related natural disasters, on a section of river stretching between the Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.
However, a shrinking riverbed and increasing silt in recent years have exerted a negative impact on flood relief efforts.
The establishment of the Heishanxia Reservoir will help the two overburdened reservoirs regulate water and silt in the upstream section of river.
The Guxian and Qikou reservoirs will extend the life of the previously built Xiaolangdi Reservoir and work with it to control sand and provide water for industries, cities, towns and agriculture in the middle section, as well as ensure safety in the downstream river section.
All three reservoirs will help to relieve the burden on the Sanmenxia Reservoir, the first to be built in the river's downstream area. The reservoir has played an important role in protecting the lives and property of people in the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu.
Another two reservoirs, the Haibowan and Hekoucun reservoirs, are under construction. The Dongzhong reservoir, which is still being planned, will help form a water and sand control system for the river.
The reservoirs are expected to reduce the amount of silt washed into the river by half to 80 million tonnes by 2030, as well as prevent water levels from rising.
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