Equilibrium sediment transport in lower Yellow River during later sediment-retaining period of Xiaolangdi Reservoir

Abstract

The Xiaolangdi Reservoir has entered the later sediment-retaining period, and new sediment transport phenomena and channel re-establishing behaviors are appearing. A physical model test was used to forecast the scouring and silting trends of the lower Yellow River. Based on water and sediment data from the lower Yellow River during the period from 1960 to 2012, and using a statistical method, this paper analyzed the sediment transport in sediment-laden flows with different discharges and sediment concentrations in the lower Yellow River. The results show that rational water-sediment regulation is necessary to avoid silting in the later sediment-retaining period. The combination of 3 000 m 3 /s < Q < 4 000 m 3 /s and 20 kg/m 3 < S < 60 kg/m 3 (where Q is the discharge and S is the sediment concentration) at the Huayuankou section is considered an optimal combination for equilibrium sediment transport in the lower Yellow River over a long period of time.

Understanding the Influencing Factors and Evolving Trend of the Yellow River Water-Sediment Regulation System from a System Perspective

“…Overall, previous studies on the WSRS mainly focused on watershed governance (Jiang and Li, 2020;Xu et al, 2012;Zheng et al, 2021), reservoir regulation (Guo et al, 2015;Hu et al, 2010;Tao and Zhou, 2016), or river channel regulation separately (Bi et al, 2018;Ma et al, 2012;Cai et al, 2022), without considering the complete WSRS. As a result, there is a lack of analysis and exploration of a multi-level, multi-link, and whole basin engineering system.…”

Tracing Study of Tributary Mouth Bar in Yellow-River Xiaolangdi Reservoir during Early Stage of Operation

“…Due to water flow's selecting effect of sediment, coarse sediment will deposit first around terminal of backwater, and fine sediment will be mixed with storage water and form density current flowing to the dam. As a result, siltation patterns of Xiaolangdi Reservoir are delta siltation around terminal of backwater and a mixture of density current silt and turbid river reservoir silt at downstream of delta [3].…”

“…The designed Xiaolangdi Reservoir effective storage is 5.1 billion m 3 , the designed sediment retaining capacity is 7.25 billion m 3 , the designed tributary sediment retaining capacity is 2.47 billion m 3 [1]. Due to the effect of tributary mouth bar, original designed tributary non-effective storage is 0.3 billion m 3 . The tracing research of tributary mouth bar is based on information above.…”

A Method for Detecting Abrupt Change of Sediment Discharge in the Loess Plateau, China

“…The Loess Plateau contributes about 80% of the sediment of the Yellow River (Figure 1). The construction of landscape projects, terraces, dams and reservoirs from 1970s to 1990s, and comprehensive soil and water conservations since 1990s have made great changes in the erosion environment of the underlying surface of the Loess Plateau, which lead to a dramatic decrease in runoff and sediment in the Yellow River [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. According to statistics, the annual sediment discharge of Tongguan gauging station is reduced from 1.6 billion tons to 260 million tons, and even reduced to less than 1 million tons by 2014.…”