By Wang Hao, People’s Daily
The Yellow River is China’s second-largest river. Yet the “mother river” once faced severe water shortages. Between 1972 and 1996, it ran dry for 19 years.
Since 1999, China has implemented unified water allocation and regulation along the Yellow River, enacted the Yellow River Protection Law, and most recently incorporated relevant provisions into the newly adopted Ecological and Environmental Code. These measures have steadily strengthened the river’s protection framework.
As a result, the Yellow River has maintained continuous flow for 27 consecutive years, and ecological conservation and high-quality development across its basin have entered a new phase.
More than 180 hydrological stations along the Yellow River serve as the river’s “eyes,” bearing witness to the transformation of the mighty waterway. Examining three of these stations illustrates how China is working to protect its major rivers.
Huangheyan Hydrological Station, Madoi, Qinghai Province
Zhaling Lake and Eling Lake are known as the “sister lakes” at the source of the Yellow River. Along their shores, hydrological monitoring equipment equipped with the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System tracks changes in water levels.
“We can receive hydrological data around the clock,” said Li Peiyan, deputy head of the Madoi hydrological team of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission.
The Madoi team oversees six stations, including those at Zhaling Lake, Eling Lake, and Huangheyan. Situated at an elevation of about 4,300 meters, Huangheyan Hydrological Station is the closest to the Yellow River’s source and the highest in the entire basin.
“In the past, our team members had to carry equipment into the water to measure flow. In the bitter cold, they would stand in the water for two or three hours at a time,” Li said. “Now, with equipment such as radar-based online flow measurement systems in operation, our team members no longer need to enter the water, and monitoring and reporting have become much more efficient.”
From 2000 to 2025, the Huangheyan station recorded fluctuations in runoff, with a period of relatively low flows followed by higher flows. Runoff has increased significantly in recent years.
China has strengthened the protection of Zhaling Lake, Eling Lake, and other rivers and lakes while intensifying desertification control in key areas. As a result, the water conservation capacity of the Yellow River source region has continued to improve. The Sanjiangyuan region now conserves 40.895 billion cubic meters of water annually.
Keeping the Yellow River flowing for 27 consecutive years has also required comprehensive management of water conservation, use, and protection.
China has moved from unregulated water diversion to unified water allocation and regulation, and from excessive water use to intensive water conservation and control. Fourteen mandatory national standards for water-use quotas in the Yellow River basin have come into force, curbing unreasonable water demand and establishing a water-use quota system covering major crops, industrial products, and household services.
Longmen Hydrological Station, Hancheng, Shaanxi Province
The Longmen Hydrological Station of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission is perched on a cliff at the downstream end of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Gorge.
During the flood season, Liu Jinyang, head of the station’s data processing team, and his colleagues remain on duty around the clock, closely monitoring fluctuations in the river level.
“Discharge at the monitoring section is 1,300 cubic meters per second, while the online photoelectric sediment monitor records a sediment concentration of 50 kilograms per cubic meter,” Liu said. The data is transmitted directly to the Yellow River flood control and dispatch center.
“Accurate measurements depend largely on the new equipment,” Liu said.
In the water, a moving Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measures discharge as it travels through the current. On shore, an image-based online flow measurement system uses cameras and algorithms to calculate discharge from visual data. In the sky, drones can fly back and forth between 12 monitoring points in just 15 minutes.
“The different sets of data cross-check one another, making monitoring and reporting more accurate and helping us anticipate changes in river conditions,” Liu said.
Self-developed technologies, including online photoelectric sediment monitors and “smart guardians” for dams and riverbanks, have also been put into use. An integrated monitoring and sensing system combining satellites, drones, video surveillance and other technologies across the sky, air, ground, water and hydraulic infrastructure is being developed, while a digital twin system for the Yellow River continues to take shape.
Years of development have brought the physical Yellow River, the model Yellow River and the digital twin Yellow River into deeper integration and closer coordination. River management is shifting from relying on “experience-based assessment” to making “intelligent, data-driven predictions.”
Lijin Hydrological Station, Dongying, Shandong Province
Located in Dongying, east China’s Shandong province, Lijin Hydrological Station is the last hydrological station before the Yellow River reaches the sea. From unified water allocation and regulation to water and sediment regulation and ecological water replenishment, the station shoulders a wide range of tasks.
“We are the last pair of ‘eyes’ on the Yellow River before it reaches the sea. The results of Yellow River conservation and management can be seen in these data,” said Xing Xijin, deputy head of the Lijin Hydrological Station.
He pointed to a series of positive changes: the wetlands of the Yellow River Delta have steadily expanded, habitats for plants and animals have continued to improve, and biodiversity has increased significantly.
The Yellow River Basin is rich in ecological resources and home to diverse species. Along the upper, middle and lower reaches, China has pursued systematic conservation of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands and deserts based on local conditions.
In the upper reaches, China has strengthened the protection and restoration of key water sources to safeguard the “water tower of China.” In the middle reaches, greater emphasis has been placed on soil and water conservation. In the lower reaches, efforts are accelerating to develop green ecological corridors and advance ecological conservation and restoration in the river estuary.
Today, all 20 major control sections on the Yellow River’s main stream and tributaries meet their ecological flow targets. In 2025, the soil and water conservation rate in the Yellow River Basin reached 69.75 percent, while the ecological condition of the basin’s rivers and lakes has improved markedly.
Three hydrological stations reveal China’s efforts to protect its major rivers
