Changes of Sediment Transport in Middle Reach of Yangtze River in Recent 50 Years

Field data of sediment transport in the middle reach of Yangtze River since 1950 are roughly analyzed.The analyzed results are as follows: The late 1960's cutoff of riverbends increased both the runoff amount and the sediment transport amount of the lower reach of Jingjiang River,while the sediment deposition decreased in the Dongting Lake area;after the mid 1980's,both the middle reach of Yangtze River main stem and the Dongting Lake occurred a trend of decreasing annual sediment transport as a result of decreasing sediment releasing from the upper reach of Yangtze River;and in the recent 3 years(2003-2006),the Three Gorges Reservoir first impoundment additionally reduced the sediment concentration in the middle reach of Yangtze River flow with a long time,so a distance would be quite long for suspended sediment recovery,but the distance for bed-material load of suspended sediment recovery would be quite short.