Yellow River Management - Protecting Our Mother River Together

The Yellow River is the mother river of the Chinese nation, and harnessing the Yellow River is a major issue in governing the country and prospering the nation. In recent years, my country has implemented integrated protection of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, strengthened the control of high-energy-consuming and high-polluting enterprises, and promoted the Yellow River Basin Waste Clearance Action, and the ecological environment in the Yellow River Basin has continued to improve.

In 2022, the proportion of surface water sections of Class I to III in the Yellow River Basin reached 87.5%, an increase of 5.6 percentage points year-on-year; the water quality of the entire mainstream of the Yellow River continued to improve; and the proportion of good days in cities at the prefecture level and above in the basin reached 80.3%. The biodiversity of the source of the Yellow River and the Yellow River Delta has steadily increased. For example, the number of birds in the Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve has increased from 187 when the area was established (1992) to 371.

The ecologically fragile areas in the Yellow River Basin are widely distributed and of many types. The plateau glaciers, grasslands and meadows in the upper reaches, the Sanjiangyuan, the Qilian Mountains, the Loess Plateau in the middle reaches, and the Yellow River Delta in the lower reaches are all very prone to degradation, and recovery is extremely difficult and slow. Only by coordinating the integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sands can we build a solid ecological security barrier. In the process of Yellow River Basin governance, it is necessary to adhere to the idea of ​​systematic organic wholeness, coordinate the upstream and downstream, left and right banks, and main and tributary rivers of the basin, and promote upstream water conservation, midstream soil and water conservation and pollution control, and downstream wetland ecosystem protection in a classified manner. We must always adhere to systematic governance, take protection and restoration measures for important ecosystems according to local conditions, and continuously improve the quality and stability of the ecosystem.

The upper reaches of the Yellow River are an important area of ​​ecological function, and the water conservation function of the source area should be improved. Taking the loess plateau and loess tableland on the north bank of the Wei River as an example, the ground slope is large and soil erosion is serious. It is urgent to establish a "four-in-one" protection measure for the plateau surface, ditch head, ditch slope and ditch. In order to better protect the ecology and environment of the Yellow River, my country issued the Yellow River Protection Law in 2022 and implemented it in April 2023. The Yellow River Protection Law takes water as the core, the river as the link, and the basin as the basis, and comprehensively promotes the comprehensive management, system management, and source management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and sands, fully reflecting the correlation between the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the main and tributary rivers, and the left and right banks, and injects a strong legal force into promoting the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin. Good laws and good governance protect the mother river, marking a fundamental change in the governance of rivers in my country, and the basin governance and protection has entered a new historical stage.

In recent years, the Yellow River governance has achieved remarkable results. The Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve has become the world's most important breeding ground for Oriental White Storks, with millions of birds migrating and wintering here every year. It has also become the most complete, extensive and youngest wetland ecosystem in China's warm temperate zone.

At present, the measures for the protection and management of the Yellow River are still being updated. This year, my country will further promote the Mother River Recovery Action, let the river flow, restore the lake, and build a harmonious symbiotic system between people and water. Strengthen the unified dispatch of water resources, promote river regulation, water system connectivity, ecological water replenishment, and groundwater over-exploitation management, gradually return the squeezed ecological water, restore the life of the river, and revitalize the river basin. At the same time, (river and lake management) pay more attention to the river basin as a unit, strengthen the unified planning, unified management, unified dispatch, and unified management of the river basin, coordinate upstream and downstream, main and tributary rivers, and left and right banks, and plan the overall protection and management of the river basin as a whole.

To manage the Yellow River, the key is to protect it and manage it. By unswervingly following the path of ecological priority and green development, we will surely promote new progress in ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin and make the Yellow River a happy river that benefits the people.

Review expert: Gao Zhiling, Professor of College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University

China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Xinhuanet

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