Flood Defense and Water/Sediment Management—With Particular Reference to The Yellow River - River Dynamics and Integrated River Management - page 332

6 Flood Defense and Water/Sediment Management —With
Particular Reference to The Yellow River

Abstract
Management of the Yellow River is presented as a case study for alluvial river management. The river is
difficult to manage because it carries a heavy sediment load and used to be the most disastrous river in
China. The river has successfully been kept flowing within the Grand Levees for a half century. But new
problems have attracted the attention of society, for example, the water diversion to meet increasing
water demand has caused the river to run dry for parts of the year, and floodplain reclamation and
sedimentation of the channel have resulted in historically high water stage. Integrated river management
is more necessary than before to coordinate various efforts of river training and management.
Keywords
Yellow River, Water resources management, Flood defense strategies, Water diversion, Sanmenxia Reservoir,
new management strategies.

6.1 Flood Disasters

6.1.1 The Yellow River Basin
The Yellow River shown in Fig. 6.1 has a drainage area of 795,000 km 2 and a length of 5,464 km making
it the second longest river in China. The long-term annual sediment load at Sanmenxia Station was 1.6
billion tons before 1980, with a highest annual load of 3.9 billion tons. The river ranks first of all the
world's rivers in terms of sediment load (Qian and Dai, 1980), although the sediment load has reduced

Fig. 6.1 The Yellow River and its tributaries (Note: Longmen, Sanmenxia, Xiaolangdi, Huayuankou, Lijin are shown
on the map; Important hydrological stations are indicated in the map by numbers as follows: ķ Luokou; ĸ Aishan;
Ĺ Gaocun; ĺ Jiahetan; Ļ Shangyuantou; ļ Chaoyi; Ľ Huayin; ľ Lintong; Ŀ Tongguan; ŀ Diaoqiao; Sunkou)