The State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Water Resources issued jointly in December 1998 A Plan on Annual Water Supply and the Dispatched Volume from the Trunk of the Yellow River and The Regulations of Water Volume Dispatching of the Yellow River which was approved by the State Council to alleviate the gap between supply and demand of water resources and the worsening situation of zero flow in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. These two documents empower the Yellow River Conservancy Commission to dispatch water of the Yellow River in a unified way. From March 1, 1999, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission began to dispatch water in the Yellow River between Liujiaxia Reservoir and Toudaoguai, and between Sanmenxia Reservoir and Lijin in a unified way, which had never happened in any other large rivers within China.

   The Yellow River Conservancy Commission set up a special agency for water dispatch, the Administration of Water Dispatching which acted on the principle of “exact prediction, careful dispatch, close supervision and meticulous coordination”. The Administration of Water Dispatching held many coordination meetings on water dispatching to strengthen the real-time dispatching and to supervise the utilization of water resources. With the coordination of the provinces or regions along the Yellow River and the departments concerned, the dispatching of water not only ensured flood and ice prevention within the Yellow River but also satisfied the consumption of water in both cities and countryside. The scientific and coordinated dispatching of water had obvious benefits in terms of drought fighting, hydropower generating and alleviating zero flow.

   Firstly, no zero flow has occurred at the Lijin section in the Yellow River for the first time in the last 10 years. It accordance with recorded data, no zero flow happened between January 1, 2000 and November 20, 2000 owing to the effective dispatching, in spite of a serious drought in the whole drainage basin and the obviously little inflow at Huayuankou Station. Scientific dispatching resulted in no zero flow once again in 2001.

   Secondly, it ensures the availability for consumption of water in the provinces along the Yellow River. The Yellow River Conservancy Commission conducts its real-time dispatch based on the inflow, the reservoir storage and the actual consumption in each province during the dispatching period. In May and June of this year, the least inflow time, water supply is very difficult. In order to ensure water supply for agriculture in the regions along the Yellow River, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission coordinates with the departments concerned many times to take advantage of the possible water resources that can be dispatched to support the drought fight. This guarantees the basic consumption of water by agriculture and industry in the provinces along the Yellow River is based on a rational distribution plan.

  Thirdly, it ensures the availability for consumption of water by the construction of important national projects and flood control projects in the downstream. Water dispatching was restricted once because of the construction of Xiaolangdi Reservoir. However, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission used all the effective measures possible to ensure the construction during the real-time dispatching of water.

Lastly, it also gives consideration to the generation benefits of the hydropower stations, such as Liujiaxia Project, Xiaolangdi Project and Sanmenxia Project.

Source:  www.yellowriver.gov.cn   Editor:HuangFeng