Announcement from the Ministry of Water Resources: In the summer of 2022, the Yangtze River will experience the most severe meteorological drought runoff since 1961 | Ministry of Water Resources | Meteorology
The Ministry of Water Resources recently released the 2022 China River Sediment Bulletin. The bulletin shows that in 2022, the total measured runoff of representative hydrological stations of major rivers in China was 1332 billion cubic meters, and the total sediment transport was 390 million tons. Among them, the Yellow River, Shule River, and Tarim River represent hydrological stations with higher average sediment concentration.
In 2022, the runoff of representative hydrological stations of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River will account for 58% and 25% of the total annual runoff of representative hydrological stations of major rivers respectively; The annual sediment transport of the Yellow River and Yangtze River representative hydrological stations accounts for 52% and 17% of the total annual sediment transport of the main river representative hydrological stations, respectively; The average sediment concentration at representative hydrological stations of the Yellow River, Shule River, and Tarim River is relatively high, at 7.70 kilograms per cubic meter, 4.08 kilograms per cubic meter, and 3.95 kilograms per cubic meter, respectively.
According to the bulletin, the total measured runoff of representative hydrological stations of major rivers in China in 2022 was 1332 billion cubic meters, which is 7% lower than the annual average runoff and 7% lower than the runoff in 2021; The total annual sediment transport of the representative hydrological station is 390 million tons, which is 73% lower than the average annual sediment transport over the years and 18% higher than the sediment transport in 2021.
Among them, the measured runoff and sediment transport at representative hydrological stations in the Yangtze River Basin in 2022 were 771.2 billion cubic meters and 66.5 million tons, respectively, while the measured runoff and sediment transport at representative hydrological stations in the Yellow River Basin were 26.38 billion cubic meters and 203 million tons, respectively.
For the Yangtze River, the summer of 2022 experienced the most severe meteorological drought since complete meteorological observation records began in 1961, with severe basin level drought occurring during the flood season. The inflow and sediment transport of the upstream Three Gorges Reservoir are significantly lower than in previous years, while the runoff of the middle and downstream main rivers is significantly reduced, and the sediment transport is at its historical minimum.
The important sediment event of the Yellow River in 2022 is the implementation of pre flood and flood season water and sediment regulation through joint reservoir scheduling in the middle reaches. During the water and sediment regulation period, the Xiaolangdi Reservoir discharged a total of 156.6 million tons of sediment, with a sediment erosion volume of 48.1 million tons in the reservoir area. The sediment entering the downstream was 152.1 million tons, and the sediment entering the sea from Lijin was 71.4 million tons. It replenished 166 million cubic meters of water to the ecological wetland of the Yellow River Delta.