On September 18, 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the symposium on ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin that the Yellow River becomes a happy river that benefits the people.
jointly implements large-scale protection and coordinates the promotion of large-scale governance. For the sake of the mother river rushing continuously, an exploration of river protection and management was carried out in the Yellow River. Implement unified water management and scheduling, carry out in-depth water conservation and control, and systematically control soil erosion... The water conservancy department regards large-scale protection as a key task, strictly manages water resources, and makes good use of water resources with careful calculations. From 1999 to August this year, the Yellow River has been flowing continuously for 23 consecutive years.
Dongying, Shandong, The mouth of the Yellow River .
The river flows thousands of miles, flowing, spreading and entering the sea. Here, we witnessed the Yellow River's appointment as scheduled for 23 consecutive years.
Once upon a time, because the Yellow River broke off , this place was a different scene. Sand covers the riverbed and birds stay away from home. From 1972 to 1999, in 28 years, the main stream of the lower reaches of the Yellow River was cut off for 22 years. When the rupture was the most severe, the length from the estuary reached 704 kilometers. The cutoff of the river once put the river ecosystem on the verge of collapse, the wetland area shrank, and the production and life of the people were affected.
Protecting the Yellow River is a great plan for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has attached great importance to the protection and governance of the Yellow River, coordinated the promotion of water resource management, intensive conservation and utilization of water resources, and water environment restoration, and "relax the muscles and bones" for the mother river.
To this day, the Yellow River has been flowing continuously for 23 consecutive years.
Looking forward to the water -
"Around 1997, there were no traffic monitored for 226 days; now, Yellow River Delta , unlimited vitality"
Location: Dongying, Shandong, Lijin Hydrological Station - the last hydrological station before the Yellow River enters the sea
"The flow is broken and continuous, just look at Lijin Station." The Lijin Hydrological Station of the Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission is the last hydrological station before the Yellow River enters the sea . Zhang Li, who works here, still remembers, "Around 1997, there were no traffic monitored for 226 days; now, the Yellow River Delta has unlimited vitality." No water enters the sea, drying up and spreading little by little, sea water erodes the shoreline, white alkalis turn out of the ground, and the species of offshore organisms decrease...
Where has the water from the Yellow River gone?
"In the past, the dense water diversion outlets on both sides of the river were like straws extending towards the Yellow River, digging water in disorder, and guarding the river downstream without water." Zhang Li was deeply touched.
The disease of the Yellow River's outflow is that it uses water uncontrollably, exceeding the capacity of the Yellow River's water resources. A set of data highlights the tension in the relationship between people and water: the Yellow River, with its river runoff, which accounts for 2% of the country's river, supports the water demand for 12% of the country's population and 17% of the arable land.
water use must move from disorder to order. Unified water volume scheduling has become a key move to control yellow yellow. "With the continuous flow of the Yellow River as the goal, the country will first determine the total amount, and then divide the water consumption in various places. It will be dispatched monthly and quarterly, and monitor important sections regularly." Ke Sujuan, deputy director of the Water Resources Management and Dispatch Bureau of the Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission, introduced.
On March 1, 1999, the first water volume dispatching instruction was issued from Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission in Zhengzhou, Henan. This is a precedent for unified scheduling of water volumes in large rivers.
10 days later, on March 11, the Yellow River flowed back to its entire line, and the Lijin Hydrological Station ushered in the long-lost Yellow River water . Zhang Li still remembered the situation on that day: "We carried the flowmeter , started the hanging box, and immediately put into the measurement and reporting work." 14.4 cubic meters/second, 109 cubic meters/second, 663 cubic meters/second... In a few days, the flow rate into the sea continued to increase.
"The wetland area is gradually expanding, and there are more flocks of birds inhabiting, and biodiversity has been restored." Zhang Li counted the changes in detail.
Since the unified dispatch of the Yellow River water volume, it has supplied more than 670 billion cubic meters of water to the basin and related areas, supporting the economic and social development and ecological civilization construction of the basin and related areas.
Water transfer -
"The quota for thousands of water diversion outlets in the Yellow River has been set"
Location: Liuyuankou Canal Head Gate Management Office - The uppermost end of the Yellow River when the Yellow River is broken down is the most severe.
Carry out unified water scheduling in the river. There is no precedent to follow. How to adjust it?
, Kaifeng, Henan, at the head gate of the Liuyuankou Canal of the Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission, a sluice gate is like a "faucet", guiding the Yellow River water to nourish the fertile field. This place is more than 700 kilometers away from the estuary, and is also the highest end when the Yellow River is most severely cut off.
, shortly after the first water scheduling command was issued, the management office received the water usage quota - 150 million cubic meters of Yellow River water were adjusted annually. Qi Shushan, who was the director of the Management Office at the time, felt nervous: "The previous water diversion could be up to 1 billion cubic meters per year, and the 'faucet' was very tightened." The
and the water volume dispatching command arrived almost at the same time, which was the local villagers' disunderstanding: "Can the ground be so small? Can the ground be watered thoroughly?" "Open the gate for a while, it won't be like that"... During the peak of water use, nearby villagers surrounded the gate to ask for water.
Qi Shushan patiently persuaded the villagers, "Everyone has tasted what a life without water tastes. It is safe to use upstream and downstream to let everyone drink the Yellow River water."
According to the scheduling requirements, the management office collects water needs and reports the plan step by step in advance, and the competent department will approve it and issue it and implement it. The amount of water used was less, but the harvest of crops in the season ushered in a bumper harvest, and everyone was relieved.
"Like the head gate management office of Liuyuankou Canal, thousands of water diversion outlets in the Yellow River have been set. The unified management and scheduling of water volume reflects the fine and scientific management of water resources." Ke Sujuan said that in many years of practice, the water resource management model of "the state uniformly allocates water volume, provinces (autonomous regions) are responsible for water distribution, and dual control of total water consumption and cross-sectional flow, and unified dispatch of important water intakes and backbone reservoirs" has gradually matured.
Water saving -
"What is water saving? The less you lose on the way from the irrigation area to the fields, the better."
Location: Yuncheng, Shanxi, Dayu Du Irrigation District - Yellow River High Irrigation Project, National Large Irrigation Area
0,000 miles of the Yellow River crosses mountains and ridges, passing through Shanxi Shaanxi Canyon .
In Dayu Du Irrigation District, Ruicheng County, Yuncheng, Shanxi, water pipes climbed on the loess high slopes with thousands of ravines, raising the Yellow River water to rise by more than 300 meters and irrigating more than 500,000 acres of fertile land.
grain-growing household in Ruicheng County More than 1,000 acres of land "drink" the Yellow River water. Summer grain harvest is a bumper harvest, autumn grain grows well, and water is the key.
field has a sprinkler rod every 18 meters. Click on the mobile phone, and the water pump starts . The trickle flows along the pipeline 1 meter deep underground to the ridges. "I have invested in the past few years to purchase , from flooding to flooding with large water to frequent irrigation, and the water consumption per mu has been reduced from 150 cubic meters to below 60 cubic meters," said Hu Tianni.
A song tells the story of the past "difficulty in using water": living along the Yellow River, it is harder to eat water than oil, the surging water flows eastward, and drought makes people worry. In 1993, Hu Tianni contracted more than 20 acres of land. During peak water use, she had to carry a water pump and pump water day and night by the Yellow River. It would take at least ten days to water the land.
"The Yellow River water is hard-won, so you have to make careful calculations and use it well." Nowadays, using sprinkler irrigation equipment, Hu Tianni's family's more than 1,000 acres of wheat saves 480,000 cubic meters of water, saving more than 160,000 yuan. After tasting the sweetness, Hu Tianni is more motivated, and new technologies such as sprinkler equipment, sensors, and the Internet of Things are constantly being introduced.
From the ground to the source, water-saving technology gradually covers all links, and the water-saving transformation of Dayudu Irrigation District is constantly advancing.
"What is water saving? The less you lose from the Yellow River water from the irrigation area to the field, the better. In professional terms, it is to improve the effective utilization coefficient of irrigation water." said Dang Chao, the website director of the second-level station of the Dayudu Irrigation District Hub.
water from the Yellow River to Douqu . Douqukou is the place where the irrigation area handes over water to the masses. "In the past, the standards of water dams and water rulers at the entrance of the Douqu were different, and there was no accurate amount of water." Dong Zengwu, director of the Dayu Ferry Yangshui Engineering Management Bureau, introduced. After repeated tests, the irrigation area has installed a steel plate water weir with uniform specifications, with higher accuracy and consistent standards. flowmeter on the
canal is also related to water conservation. The Yellow River has a lot of silt and sand, and the errors of flowmeters such as ultrasonic , radar are large. "We have carried out technical research and improved more than 10 functions of magnetostrictive flowmeters." Dong Zengwu introduced.
Nowadays, the effective utilization coefficient of irrigation water in the irrigation area is 0.5518, an increase of 0.0818 compared with the water-saving transformation and continuous construction supporting projects before the implementation of the water-saving transformation and continuous construction. The average irrigation water per mu is 191 cubic meters, saving 67 cubic meters compared with the implementation of the project.
By promoting water-saving agriculture and implementing irrigation area water-saving transformation, the effective utilization coefficient of irrigation water in the Yellow River Basin has increased from 0.554 in 2019 to 0.566 in 2020, and the actual average water consumption per mu of arable land irrigation is lower than the national average.
The biggest contradiction in the Yellow River Basin is water shortage, and the water resource development and utilization rate is as high as 80%. "To govern the Yellow River, we must fight the battle of deep water conservation and control, insist on determining the city, land, people, and production, and make good use of water resources with careful calculations." Jing Ming, chief engineer of the Water Conservancy Center of the Yellow River Water Conservancy Committee, introduced.
Water control ——
“This means more mud and sand stay in the ditches, and more water becomes clear water and gradually flows into the Yellow River”
Location: Yulin, Shaanxi, Jiuyuangou Basin, Suide Soil and Water Conservation Science Experimental Station—A test station that has carried out soil and water treatment for 70 years for a long time
There is little water and more sand, and the water and sand relationship is inconsistent, which is the fundamental crux of the complex and difficult treatment of the Yellow River.
is located in Jiuyuangou in Suide County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province. It is one of the tens of millions of ditches on the Loess Plateau. The vertical and horizontal ditches connect the tributaries of the Yellow River. A soil and water conservation experiment that has been carried out for 70 years has explored solutions for water and desertification control.
Maliangou Village is located in Jiuyuangou. The fruit trees on the mountain are continuous and the crops in the valley are in full bloom. "Take apples as an example, the transfer fee per mu of hillside land is 55 yuan, and each person receives a dividend of 230 yuan per year. There are 76 villagers working in the orchard, and one place can produce 'three golds'." Wang Jianxiong, secretary of the village party branch, said, "The roots of the apple tree are deeply rooted and the branches and leaves are scattered. It is still a 'good hand' to prevent soil erosion . "
All this is due to soil erosion control. In 1952, the Suide Soil and Water Conservancy Science Experimental Station of the Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission was established. Scientific researchers traveled through mountains and rivers and surveyed the terrain. The following year, they built the first silt dam in northern Shaanxi in Maliangou Village.
Villager Li Wenyuan often heard the old people mention this dam, "The dam blocks silt and sand, releases water from buildings, and clear water, and the water leaves the soil and keeps the soil. Layers of loess slowly silt into fertile fields in front of the dam. In a few years, more than 150 acres of fertile fields grew in front of the silt dam."
"The silt dam can not only maintain soil and soil, but also increase grain output, and has become an effective measure." Dang Weiqin, chief engineer of Suide Soil and Water Conservation Science Experiment Station, introduced.
Then, silted dams rose from the ground. However, the construction standards of silt dams at that time were low and the flood control capacity was poor. A heavy rain many years ago caused many silt dams in Jiuyuangou to collapse.
"Learn from the pain, the standards, methods and materials for dam building need to be upgraded." Dang Weiqin said that the test station carried out a new round of exploration and proposed the idea of building a "silt dam system". "Large dams can play the role of flood blocking and protect the safety of small and medium-sized silt dam groups in the downstream." Today, in Jiuyuangou, large, medium and small silt dams cooperate with each other to form a relatively stable dam system, greatly improving the safety performance of silt dams.
Continue to build silt dams, use engineering measures to maintain water and soil, or plant trees and grass, and take biological measures? We set up "three lines of defense" from the bottom of the ditches, hillsides to the top of Liangmao: at the top of Liangmao, we carry out grass field rotation and plant economic forests; on the hillside, we plant water conservation forests and artificial grass; at the bottom of the ditches, we build large, medium and small silt dams according to local conditions. "The combination of biological measures, agricultural measures and engineering measures is combined to prevent and store them at all levels." Dang Weiqin said, "This means that more silt and sand remain in the ditches, and more water becomes clear water and gradually flows into the Yellow River."
is not only the Jiuyuan Gully, but also the comprehensive management projects of small river basins are constantly being promoted. In recent years, the area and intensity of soil erosion in the Yellow River Basin have continued to achieve "double declines".
Author: Wang Hao
How to adjust water and sand in the Yellow River?
In June this year, in Luoyang City, Henan Province, the Yellow River Xiaolangdi Water Conservancy Hub was water and sand diversion site. Photo by Huang Zhengwei (Image China)
answers the "inequalities" of water-sand relationship. Diversion of water and sand is an effective measure. This requires both a perfect water conservancy engineering system and an optimal solution under multiple restrictions. We must make sufficient "embroidery efforts"
Nine-bend Yellow River Sand. The Yellow River, which is "Seven Sands of Doushui", is the river with the largest amount of silt and sand content in the world. There is little water and more sand and the inconsistent relationship between water and sand is the crux of its complexity and difficulty in curing. Since 2002, based on a large number of scientific research and experiments, my country has continued to carry out water and sand diversion of the Yellow River. How to adjust water and sand? What effect can be achieved?
It has little water and a lot of sand not only caused the "yellow" of the Yellow River, but also had a profound impact on the river flow and trough. Historically, while Yellow River embankment "bound" the river water, it also allowed a large amount of mud and sand to accumulate between the embankment, forming " hanging river on the ground ". The uncoordinated water-sand relationship once caused frequent swings in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, becoming a "horizontal river" and "slanting river" and directly rushing to the embankment project; in addition, the siltation of the lower reaches of the river channel, and the flood flow capacity of the main river trough dropped sharply.
answers the "inequalities" of the water-sand relationship, and diversion of water and sand is an effective measure. In layman's terms, water and sand are used to manually regulate the reservoirs of the main and tributary rivers of the Yellow River, draining large flows of water, and washing the mud and sand into the sea as much as possible. This requires both a perfect water conservancy engineering system and an optimal solution under multiple restrictions. We must make sufficient "embroidery skills".
first look at the joint scheduling of the reservoir. Before the flood season, Wanjiazhai, Sanmenxia and Xiaolangdi Reservoir on the Yellow River need to free up the storage capacity to prevent floods. The three reservoirs increase the drainage flow, and on the premise of ensuring safety, the surging river water will take away the silt and sand at the bottom of the reservoir and the river bottom. During the flood season, when the flood level is not large and the silt content is not high, the main stream Wanjiazhai, Sanmenxia, Xiaolangdi , the tributary Luhun, Guxian, Hekou Village, and even the upstream of the main stream will be added to create conditions for eroding the silt and sand. Among them, Xiaolangdi Reservoir controls almost 100% of the sand and 90% of the water in the Yellow River. During the autumn flood in 2021, Xiaolangdi Reservoir intercepted about 8.084 billion cubic meters of flooding and washed away 91.3 million tons of sand in the downstream river.
then calculate the water accounts carefully. How much discharge flow is released? This not only ensures the safety of the embankment, but also meets the flood flow capacity of the main river trough, and also allows the water flow to have enough erosion force to take away the mud and sand. After sorting out historical data, field investigations, and online simulations, we have established a scientific computing model. The results show that the flow rate of Xiaolangdi Reservoir is between 2,600 cubic meters per second to the flat beach (the river water is level with the edge beach) to achieve a better effect of sand and sea.
The Yellow River has carried out multiple water and sand diversions, and has achieved remarkable results. In the past three years, the cumulative storage capacity of Wanjiazhai Reservoir has recovered 144.6 million cubic meters, the Sanmenxia Reservoir has basically reached the sludge balance, and the Xiaolangdi Reservoir has recovered 146.2 million cubic meters. At present, the main river trough of the downstream river channel has decreased by 2.6 meters on average, and the overflow capacity has increased from 1,800 cubic meters per second before the flood season in 2002 to about 5,000 cubic meters per second. The probability of small and medium-sized floods has decreased, the social and economic water security rate has been significantly improved, and the ecological environment has been effectively repaired and protected.
solves the inconsistency of water and sand relationships, and it takes a long time to work hard. Vigorously carry out soil erosion control, plant trees and afforestation, protect mountains and slopes, and reduce silt and sand from the source to the yellow. In the water conservancy engineering system, we will promote the construction of major water conservancy projects of Gu Xian, Heishanxia, and Jikou, and explore the research and development of "digital twin Yellow River" technology to provide more solid technical support for water and sand diversion.
Author: Gan Enhui
Source: People's Daily
