| Abstract: | From the mid 1980s through the late 1990s, the channel of the lower Yellow River experienced serious shrinkage, which has decreased the flood conveyance of the channel and the sediment carrying capacity of the flow, raised the water levels of floods, and, thus, severely threatened the safety of flood control along the river. The completion of Xiaolangdi Dam in 1999 could help mitigate the channel shrinkage problem, but the situation has not changed yet. This paper analyses the characteristics, mechanisms, and conditions resulting in channel shrinkage, points out channel instabilities, and puts forward approaches of channel rehabilitation. |
