Integrated River Management - River Dynamics and Integrated River Management - page 763

Fig. 11.48 Distribution of sediment deposition in the Yangtze River estuary

Fig. 11.49 Size distributions of sediment deposits at the Yangtze River mouth and suspended load measured at the
Datong hydrological station

Sediment transported to the lower reaches and the river mouth is remarkably reduced and cannot meet
the sediment demands of the river. Sediment shortage has become a new challenge to river engineers and
sediment managers. The annual sediment load at Yichang has reduced from a long-term average of 514
million tons to 392 million tons since the mid 1980s and further has reduced to about 100 million tons in
2003-2004, and sediment load at Datong has reduced from 427 million tons to 327 million tons since the
mid 1980s and further reduced to less than 200 million tons in 2003-2004. On the other hand, the total
sediment demand is more than 300 million tons for land creation and building materials. There is a
sediment shortage of about 100 million tons in the Yangtze River (Wang et al., 2007).