Ordos strives for reduction of sediment in Yellow River

Since the beginning of this year, Ordos has been promoting the reduction of sediment in the Yellow River and implementing pilot projects for sand trapping and water exchange.

The pilot projects are located in Engebei township of the Dalad Banner, with 151 sand trapping dams and one flood diversion and sand trapping project under construction.

Currently, 102 sand trapping dams have been completed and accepted, and they are expected to be used in mid-June.

The designed flood standard of the projects is to withstand the flood, which can only meet once within a 30-year period.

By constructing facilities such as overflow weirs, sand wash gates, flood diversion gates, flood diversion canals, and sediment retention areas, the projects intercept and divert part of the flood and sediment to the low-lying areas of the Kubuqi Desert downstream, reducing the total amount of sediment entering the Yellow River.

Qiu Wei, deputy director of the Ordos water resources bureau, explained that the projects could effectively improve the siltation problem in the Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River.

It can also replace a portion of the water, control soil erosion, and improve the ecological environment of the surrounding area, Qiu added.

According to Pi Jinxin, the deputy chief of the engineering management department of Ordos Water Holding Group Co, when the projects are implemented, they will achieve an annual sand trapping capacity of 110 million metric tons and a water exchange volume of 28 million cubic meters per year.

Ordos Plateau is located in the hinterland of the Loess Plateau, with the Yellow River flowing through its three sides. There are 10 first-grade tributaries of the Yellow River running in an east-west direction, with a hilly and gully area upstream and the Kubuqi Desert crossing the middle reaches.

The sediment entering the Yellow River from the plateau accounts for one-tenth of the total sediment in China.

Great efforts have been made to control such conditions.

In 2022, Ordos built 188 silt retention ponds and completed the comprehensive management of 1,251 square kilometers in the drainage basins of the 10 first-grade tributaries of the Yellow River.

The sediment entering the Yellow River from these tributaries reduced from 27 million tons per year in the past to 18.28 million tons now.

Currently, a water-sediment monitoring system for the primary and tributary streams of the Yellow River is gradually taking shape, promoting high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin.