Moreover, rainfall in the area is generally insufficient to support the growth of trees and plants even after their plantation; grazing by animals worsens the situation. Silt retention dams and structures in the silt-carrying gullies and valleys have proven more effective and thousands of dams have been built. As these dams are gradually filled up, the dam heights have to be raised. Such high retention dams, however, are a double-edged sword. Heavy once-in-a-century rains or powerful earthquakes could cause dams to break and initiate catastrophic landslides that would create even bigger floods that would do immense damage. Similarly, the Chinese have managed to control floods in the river by periodically raising the levees and the dykes but the unrelenting silt build-up in the riverbed is continuing and another 100-year return flood like that of 1761 or 1843 could still prove catastrophic. Hence more resources and research are required to be deployed by the Chinese government and the international community to find a more effective engineering solution for the problem of silting. (Chengrui and Dregne, 15-17) The use of water from the Yellow River for irrigation and industrial purposes also needs to be controlled as a lot of water is wasted due to out-dated, wasteful practices and under-pricing of water. Better irrigation practices such as lining of canals to prevent seepage, better land leveling, and appropriate water pricing could help in more optimum use of water.

Conclusion

As we saw in this paper, the Yellow River has been a cradle of Chinese civilization, has supported millions of people who have lived alongside it, but has periodically caused an equal amount of sorrow through devastating floods and course changes throughout history. Currently, the river is faced with decreased flows due to overexploitation,
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Thirsty China to divert the mighty Yangtze." CNN.com November 15, 2001. October 7, 2006. http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/11/15/china.water/index.html

Yellow River." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2006. October 7, 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huang_He

The Yellow River is 5464 km long; it originates in the Bayankala Mountains of the Qinghai province in Western China and flows through nine Chinese provinces into the Bohai Sea.

The Colorado River in the U.S.A. is the second most silt-laden river in the world with 28 kg / cubic m of silt

Erling Hoh, quoting from the book, "China's Water Crisis," states that Ningxia diverts over 10 billion cubic yards of water from the river annually as against its allotted quota of 5.2 billion cubic yards.

In the Yinchuan Plain, 43 per cent of the irrigated land is saline and approximately 16 per cent of the North China Plain's irrigated land is salt-affected.

Apart from the Yellow River, the scheme would divert water from the Yangtze to Rivers Huai and Hai as well.

Yellow River