Position and Function of Sanmenxia Reservoir in the New Age

After putting into operation, the Sanmenxia Reservoir has played huge function on ensuring the safety of flood control and ice run control of the lower Yellow River. It has scored great successes on the aspects of reservoir regulation and resistance to abrasion of units, exploring a successful method for long-term keeping effective storage capacity and lifetime of reservoir built on hyper sediment concentrated river. After completion of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir and according to the requirements of development and planning of taming the Yellow River, management of floodwater in the lower reaches and integrated utilization of water resources, the Sanmenxia Reservoir still has the following strenuous tasks to undertake: a) According to the design requirements of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir that only as the four reservoirs of Xiaolangdi, Sanmenxia, Guxian and Luhun are jointly regulated the lower Yellow River can reach the standard of once in a thousand-year flood. When the dead storage capacity of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir is filled up, the storage capacity for flood control need to be cooperated with the Sanmenxia Reservoir will be bigger. b) The storage capacity of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir can not meet the requirements of ice run control in the lower reaches after its normal operation if serious ice run regime in the lower reaches happens. It still needs to control the two reservoirs jointly. c) Along with the rapid development of the Yellow River basin economy, the Sanmenxia Reservoir has an extremely important position in water supply system in the future. d) The three reservoirs of Sanmenxia, Xiaolangdi and Xixiayuan will be formed as a reservoir group in cascade. Although the Xiaolangdi Reservoir will play the function of the heart of key water control projects and form a connecting link between what comes before and what goes after, while the storage capacity is limited and some problems only can be solved through the cooperation of the Sanmenxia Reservoir. In addition, at the early stage of the Sanmenxia Reservoir, it had destroyed the local natural environment. After putting into operation, storing water in non-flood season, lowering the water level in flood season and through natural rehabilitation and artificial construction for more than 40 years, a unique ecological system and natural environment has been formed in the reservoir area and a social and economic development mode relied on the reservoir formed in the surroundings. Therefore, it undertakes not only the tasks of river basin management and development, but also the following requirements of the reservoir itself: a) Protecting and improving ecological environment of the wetlands in reservoir area. b) Guaranteeing the water supply for agricultural and industrial consumption along the reservoir area. c) Improving water quality of the reservoir area. d) Supporting the development of Sanmenxia City.