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The mainstream of the Yellow River has been continuously flowing for 20 years since August 1999. However，the continuous flow of the mainstream does not mean that the contradiction between water supply and demand in the basin has been truly alleviated. It is only through scientific regulation that the contradictions of water shortage have been changed from explicit to invisible，transfer from mainstream to the tributary，transfer from the river to the land surface，transfer from the surface to the underground and transfer from the concentrated dam¬age to the basin to evenly destroy. With the continuous development of the economic and social development，the academic community has begun to controversy about the lack of water of the Yellow River basin in the current conditions. Based on the review of the phenomenon of “ Yellow River Cutoff”，this paper compared the water supply and demand situation and ecological status after the cutoff from the perspective of the whole basin； and built a rigid deficiency based on the degree of system affordability，the concept of water and elastic water shortage and the criteria for division. Through the analysis and calculation，it believes that the current annual water shortage is 1.14 billion m3，of which the rigid water shortage is 6.30 billion m3 and the elastic water shortage is 5.10 billion m3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrated water regulation of the Yellow River is the first case in large rivers. It is also an important means to alleviate the contradiction between water supply and demand in the Yellow River basin and solve the frequent interruption of the Yellow River. This paper analyzed the necessity of integrated water regulation, reviewed the development history of the Yellow River integrated water regulation for 20 years, summarized the integrated water regulation technology and compared the Yellow River runoff situation, the amount of freshwater resources flowing into the sea, water security, ecology environmental conditions, changes of the estuary wetlands and types and quantities of offshore organisms on the basis of the integrated water regulation conditions before and after that. The results show that the integrated water regulation of the Yellow River has enabled the Yellow River to achieve continuous flow for 20 consecutive years, which has produced significant social, economic and ecological effects. Based on the existing problems of the Yellow River integrated water regulation, the development direction of Yellow River water scheduling was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]