Flood Control in the Y ellow R iver B asin in C hina

Abstract During the early decades of the twentieth century, flood control in the Yellow River basin has evolved as a combination of traditional management practices, influences from European‐based industrial society, and new technical and organizational features from modern Chinese society. The views on flood management were determined by the famous Chinese flood managers, Li Yizhi, Shen Yi, Zhang Hanying, and Wang Huayun. In the mid‐1950s, a multipurpose plan for permanent control of the river was initiated. This plan included the construction of more than 40 dams and projects to moderate the river's flow (and produce energy). Today, on the upper and middle stream of the Yellow River, there are 173 large and medium‐sized reservoirs whose total storage capacity is 55.2 billion m 3 . Downstream of the Sanmenxia reservoir (see Figs. 2 and 5), two large flood retardation basins—the Beijinti and the Dongpinghu—were constructed. Their storage capacity is 2 billion m 3 each and detention area 2316 km 2 and 627 km 2 , respectively. Altogether 5000 bank protection works with a total length of 585 km were built. In this way, the flood control works can resist peak discharges of 22,000 m 3 /s (1958 flood) at the Huayuankou hydrologic station (1958 flood), corresponding to a 60‐year return period. The Xiaolangdi Reservoir whose a storage capacity is 12.65 billion m 3 on the lower reach increased the protection standard there to a return period of 1000 years.