China starts building pivotal dam to manage Yellow River, the world’s muddiest waterway

The Guxian water management project is focused on reducing worrying sediment and flooding on China’s second longest river

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China on Tuesday began construction of what will be the third largest dam on the Yellow River. The major waterway is notorious for excessive silt and sometimes devastating flooding. Photo: CCTV

Published: 5:00pm, 11 Jul 2024Updated: 5:21pm, 11 Jul 2024

After decades of planning, construction has begun on a massive new dam on China’s Yellow River in the latest water management project aimed at controlling increasing sediment in the world’s muddiest river.

The Guxian Water Conservancy Project, which is located midstream on the river between the central provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi, officially began construction on Tuesday, the Ministry of Water Resources said.

Once completed, the project will control 65 per cent of the Yellow River basin area, 73 per cent of its water flow and 60 per cent of its sediment volume, according to the ministry.

Once completed the Guxian dam is expected to manage 65 per cent of the Yellow River basin area, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. Photo: Weibo

Originating in China’s northwest Qinghai province, the Yellow River – the country’s second-longest waterway – runs through the Loess Plateau, an area about the size of France, that has become an immense source of silt due to desertification.

The sixth-longest river system in the world, the Yellow River has become known as “a hanging river” because the excessive accumulations of sediment have raised parts of the riverbed above the surrounding terrain, changing the course of the water over time and leading to frequent, devastating floods.

“The Guxian project is a strategically important component of the Yellow River’s sediment control system and a key node of the national water network, crucial to the long-lasting security of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River,” Water Resources Minister Li Guoying said at a ceremony on Tuesday.