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Water scarcity has been a critical factor that restricts the Yellow River Basin’s economic development for decades. Balancing water resources and industrial development is a core strategy for the sustainable water management in the Yellow River Basin; it is also crucial for promoting the synergistic development of society, economy, and environment and for realizing ecological protection and high-quality development of the basin. This study first analyzes the evolution of the “balancing water resources and industrial development” concept and distinguishes the relationship between the concept and water management. Based on the social-economic-natural complex ecosystem theory, we propose a conceptual framework and an implementation roadmap for promoting sustainable water management in the basin. Moreover, we analyze the evolution and the status of the water management system in the Yellow River Basin by reviewing the basin’s water governance strategies and management systems. Accordingly, three major challenges in balancing water resources and industrial development in the basin are identified, including planning and coordination of administrative mechanisms, efficiency optimization of human‒water interaction, and improvement of data-driven policy-making. Furthermore, we propose several suggestions including strengthening intersectoral coordination in the basin, encouraging participation of multiple social entities to improve the basin governance network, and promoting administrative departments to co-build and share data resources to realize refined and sustainable water management of the basin.

Working together on protection instead of excessive development is the key strategy for promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It is necessary to tackle principal contradictions with targeted measures in the process of Yangtze River protection. In this paper, we analyze the major issues regarding water security and aquatic ecosystem protection in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, including the severe flood control safety situation, the serious shrinkage of suitable habitats for aquatic animals and biodiversity reduction, and the dysfunctional relationship between the Yangtze River and its connected lakes. Additional, we propose several targeted measures and strategies. The measures for improving the flood control capability are to accelerate the construction of safety projects in critical flood storage and detention areas and revise the Yangtze River Basin Flood Control Planning. The strategies for restoring the damaged aquatic ecosystem are to construct substitute habitats in the tributaries in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, restore the connection between the Yangtze River and some former connected lakes in the middle and lower reaches, and expand the ecological operation of reservoirs. The strategies for regulating the river–lake relationship are to improve the four water systems in the north of the Dongting Lake and build floodgates at the outlet of the Poyang Lake.

Water and sediment regulation is critical for the long-term safety of the Yellow River. Influenced by both natural factors and human activities such as water and soil conservation, the amount of water and sediments of the Yellow River continues varying. The amount of water resources decreases slightly and sediments decrease sharply. A scientific prediction of the amount of sediments in the future is crucial for formulating the strategy for water and sediment regulation of the Yellow River. In this paper, we analyze the variation characteristics of the amount of water and sediments from 1919 to 2020, predict the annual sediment transport of the Yellow River in the next 50 years, and systematically summarize the main problems regarding water and sediment regulation in the Yellow River Basin such as river sedimentation atrophy in the upper reaches, incompatibility between river regulation strategies with high-quality development requirements in the lower reaches, and mismatched measures of soil and water loss control in the Loess Plateau. Three targeted strategies for water and sediment regulation under new conditions are proposed. The first is to perfect the water and sediment regulation engineering system with focus on the development of Heishanxia reach and the construction of the Guxian water conservancy project. The second is to manage regionally floodplains at the lower reaches, renovate river channels, and release a part of the floodplains. The third is to adjust soil and water conservation measures according to local nature and water conditions.

The rich biodiversity in the floodplain area is influenced by both floodplain floods and groundwater (GW). To protect the ecological environment in the floodplain area, it is essential to study the interaction between floodplain floods and GW. The objective of this paper is to propose a coupling strategy between a hydrodynamic model and a GW model to provide an accurate simulation tool for quantifying the interaction between floodplain floods and GW. The case study is conducted in the floodplain area of the middle reaches of the Irtysh River in northwest China. Firstly, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model based on TELEMAC-2D is constructed to accurately simulate floodplain floods under wetting and drying conditions. Secondly, a GW model based on MODFLOW is developed. Finally, a coupling strategy is proposed to achieve accurate and efficient integration between the hydrodynamic model and the GW model. The calibration and verification results of the model demonstrate high accuracy, with root mean squared error (RMSE) values of 0.51 m and 0.77 m between observed and calculated GW levels for the hydrodynamic–GW coupled model. The water balance results indicate that floodplain floods serve as the largest GW recharge source in the study area, while phreatic evaporation is the primary GW discharge item. This paper represents a novel attempt to couple a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model with a GW model. The research results provide a scientific tool for the ecological restoration of floodplain areas considering both surface water and GW, as well as the comprehensive management and regulation of wetland water resources and the water environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reservoirs are one of the most efficient projects for water resources management, and also play an important role in flood control and conservation. Dynamic control of the reservoir flood limited water level (FLWL) is considered as an effective factor to ensure safety of the flood control during the flood season. The maximum allowed water level of cascade reservoirs is also a fundamental key element for implementing reservoir water level dynamic control operation. In this paper, we discussed and improved 'Dynamic Control Operation Module for Cascade Reservoirs' (DCOMR). Therefore, a set of new formulas and new methodologies were proposed (NDCOMR) which considers intermediate variables forecast information, the release of the upstream reservoir and interval flow forecast information in effective lead times, which is applied to the dynamic operation of the maximum allowed water level of cascade reservoirs. The Bikou and Miaojiaba cascade reservoirs were selected as a case study. Based on numerical experiment results, the maximum allowed water level of cascade reservoirs at current time determined by NDCOMR was much safer than that determined by DCOMR. The NDCOMR is more rational and safer than DCOMR for flood control, without the need of reducing flood control standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]