Two-thousand years of debates and practices of Yellow River training strategies

• Published in: International journal of sediment research 2019-01, Vol.34 (1), p.73-83
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhaoyin, Liu, Cheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Avulsion; Levee breaches; Narrow river and scouring sediment strategy; Wide river and depositing sediment strategy; Yellow River
• ISSN: 1001-6279
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsrc.2018.08.006

Throughout the history of China, the Yellow River has been associated with flood disasters and changes in the course of its lower reaches because of sedimentation. From 602 B.C. to 1949 the river experienced 1593 levee bursts, flooding vast areas, and claiming millions of human lives. The river shifted its main course by avulsion 26 times with the apex around Zhengzhou, resulting in devastating calamities and numerous old channels. Training of the Yellow River has a history of more than 3000 yr. Levee construction has been the major strategy for flood control. Two extremely different strategies has been proposed and practiced in the past 2000 yr, i.e. the “wide river and depositing sediment” strategy and the “narrow river and scouring sediment” strategy. This paper analyzes the levee breaches and flood disasters in the past 2000 yr and compares the results of the two extremely different strategies. The “narrow river and scouring sediment” strategy has only short term effects on levee breach control and flood mitigation. The “wide river and depositing sediment” strategy can essentially mitigate flood disasters and reduce levee breaches for a long term period of time. The “wide river and depositing sediment” strategy has been used and no levee breach has occurred in the past 67 yr, which has been the only periods of more than 50 yr with no levee breaches in the history of the Yellow River since 700 A.D. Modern flood and sedimentation management methods have also been introduced, and the strategy of applying the ‘“widen the river and enhance the levees” approach for the upper and lower reaches management is proposed.