China: Silt Deposits Annoy Yellow River People

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 20, 2003

China: Silt Deposits Annoy Yellow River People

The silt deposits in the lower reaches of the Yellow River still pose a threat to the lives and property of the people living in the river valleys, said an experiment report published Sunday.

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The silt deposits in the lower reaches of the Yellow River still pose a threat to the lives and property of the people living in the river valleys, said an experiment report published Sunday.

This was China's first experiment to readjust the water and silt in the country's second longest river, reported the China Daily on Monday.

The river's principal problem has always been the silt deposits caused by exceptionally high levels of sediment.

The river bed in the lower reaches rose to a level above that of the surrounding fields, leading to the Yellow River being described as a "hanging river".

The river bed in the lower reaches is growing higher and higher,greatly increasing the risk of flooding and the breaching of dykes,according to the China Daily.

According to the 17-day experiment conducted last July and August, the speed of the current flow in the lower reaches of the river is less than 3,000 cubic meters per second, much less than 5,000 cubic meters per second in the 1980s and 1990s.

The "hanging river" extends about 900 kilometers from Jiahetan hydrological station in the city of Kaifeng in central China's Henan Province to the river's estuary in the Bohai Sea.

In an 80-kilometer section, the most seriously affected part, the river bed is 4 meters higher than the surrounding beach.

Experts attributed the phenomenon to chronic dry weather and the rising amount of industrial and agricultural intake from the river, reported the China Daily.

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