Sedimentary Causes and Management of Two Principal Environmental Problems in the Lower Yellow River |
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Authors: | ZHANG DIAN SHI CHANGXING |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, HK |
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Abstract: | Flood and water shortage are two of the leading environmental problems around the world, and among the causes of the problems
is sedimentation. The Yellow River brought disastrous floods in its lower reaches in Chinese history. Today, although floods
caused by the river are still a formidable hazard hanging over China, it cannot provide the lower reaches with enough usable
water. The ineradicable flood hazard and newly emerged water shortage problems of the river are proved to be closely associated
with its immense sediment load. The over loaded flow of the river can quickly fill the reservoirs and unceasingly raise the
riverbed, attenuating the capacity of reservoirs to suppress floods and provide more water for dry seasons and of river channels
to convey floods. Also, the high sediment content pollutes the water and reduces the volume of usable water. In virtue of
the intimate linkage between these problems and the formidable sediment load in the river, the solution to these problems
should be based on sedimentation management. After reviewing the defects and merits of management measures implemented and
proposed, a management scenario composed of multiple measures are recommended. Beside of persistent soil conservation to reduce
the huge sediment load, more reservoirs to check sediment and regulate river flows, approaches to alleviating riverbed accretion,
interbasin water transfer to mitigate water deficiency, and so on, an emphasis should be laid on use of muddy flows in order
to scatter the sediment in a vast area, which was a natural process but has been interrupted by construction of embankments. |
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Keywords: | : Yellow River Flood disaster River's drying up Siltation Sediment management |
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