Wang, S.; Wang, X. Changes in Water and Sediment Processes in the Yellow River and Their Responses to Ecological Protection during the Last Six Decades. Water2023, 15, 2285.
Wang, S.; Wang, X. Changes in Water and Sediment Processes in the Yellow River and Their Responses to Ecological Protection during the Last Six Decades. Water 2023, 15, 2285.
Wang, S.; Wang, X. Changes in Water and Sediment Processes in the Yellow River and Their Responses to Ecological Protection during the Last Six Decades. Water2023, 15, 2285.
Wang, S.; Wang, X. Changes in Water and Sediment Processes in the Yellow River and Their Responses to Ecological Protection during the Last Six Decades. Water 2023, 15, 2285.
Abstract
The variation of river hydrologic process can not only reflect the impact of natural factors, but also the impact of human activities. The purpose of this study is to reveal the change trend of the hydrologic regime of the Yellow River and its response to ecological protection in the river basin. Based on the daily water and sediment observation data of representative gauging stations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, it was analyzed the variation trend of the annual and monthly runoff and suspended sediment load (SSL), and monthly mean runoff, suspended sediment transport rate (SSTR), sediment inflow coefficient, and hydrological regime in decadal average of the gauging stations during the period 1960-2019. The results show that the variation of annual runoff and SSL, as well as the monthly mean runoff and SSTR in decadal average, has a significant decreasing trend in the 1960’s-1990’s, which was mainly in response to the gradual implementation of ecological protection measures such as afforestation, grass planting, terrace construction, and check dam construction, etc. in the basin. In 2000’s and 2010’s, the annual runoff increased, while the SSL increased slightly. This was a response to the implementation of new river management measures such as ensuring the ecological water demand of the lower reaches and scouring the riverbed by manually regulated clear water discharged from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir. In the same time, the monthly mean runoff and SSTR for the flood season (Jun.-Oct.) decreased remarkably, while the process curve of the monthly mean discharge and sediment concentration, changed from a clockwise loop to a counterclockwise loop in the river reach below the Xiaolangdi dam. This was a comprehensive response to the environmental protection measures in the Yellow River basin, in which the construction and operation of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir played a key role. This study can provide reference for river basin management.
Keywords
runoff and sediment load; hydrologic regime; change trend; influence factors; Yellow River
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Geography
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
