What is the pollution of the Yellow River? What measures should be taken to harness the Yellow River?

First, the Yellow River water resources management status and problems

Abstract: With the development of industry and agriculture in the river basin, the annual water consumption on both sides of the Yellow River has soared from 654.38+022 billion m3 in 1950s to about 30 billion m3 in 1990s. During the 28 years from 1972 to 1999, the lower Yellow River was cut off for 22 years. According to the forecast, the Yellow River Basin will be short of water by 4 billion m3 in 20 10, water by 2030 10 billion m3 and water by 65,438+in 2050. Therefore, it is suggested that the legal status and authority of river basin institutions should be confirmed legally and the water resources management system of the Yellow River should be straightened out. Adhere to both open source and throttling, and put water saving in the first place; Establish and improve the laws and regulations on water resources management of the Yellow River, and provide legal basis for water resources management of the Yellow River.

1. Present situation of water resources in the Yellow River

According to statistics, the average annual runoff of the Yellow River is 58 billion m3, accounting for only 2% of the national river runoff. However, it undertakes the task of supplying water to 15% of the cultivated land, 12% of the population and more than 50 large and medium-sized cities, and also undertakes the task of transferring water outside the basin. With the development of industry and agriculture in the river basin, the annual water consumption on both sides of the river surged from 654.38+02.2 billion m3 in 1950s to about 30 billion m3 in 1990s. Among them, agricultural water accounts for 92% and industrial domestic water accounts for 8%. During the 28 years from 1972 to 1999, the lower Yellow River was cut off for 22 years, while 1996, 1997 and 1998 exceeded 100 days and/kloc-for three consecutive years. According to the forecast, the Yellow River Basin will be short of water by 4 billion m3 in 20 10, 203010/0 billion m3 and 205016 billion m3, and the number of dry years will increase. It can be seen that the water demand has exceeded the carrying capacity of the Yellow River water resources, and the contradiction of water crisis in the Yellow River basin will become more and more prominent.

In order to alleviate the contradiction between supply and demand of water resources in the Yellow River basin and the situation of water cut-off in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Water Resources promulgated and implemented the Measures for the Regulation and Management of Water Resources in the Yellow River and the Scheme for the Allocation of Water Resources in the Main and Running Rivers of the Yellow River. At the beginning of 1999, the Yellow River Water Resources Commission set up the Water Regulation Bureau to conduct unified management and planning of the Yellow River water supply from1March 7, 999.

2. The performance of problems in management

Since the implementation of unified water regulation, although there has been no water cut-off in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the problem of water cut-off in the Yellow River has not been fundamentally solved because the Yellow River is a resource-poor area and the unified management of the river basin is very weak. The specific performance is as follows:

2. 1. In the management system, the legal status and authority of river basin institutions are not clear, and they lack extensive water administrative power.

According to the "three decisions" scheme of river basin agencies, river basin agencies are only dispatched agencies of the Ministry of Water Resources, not first-level administrative units, and can only exercise water administrative management rights within their own basins under the authorization of the Ministry of Water Resources. Since it is authorized, it is impossible to have complete "power", and its management function arising from authorization will certainly not be the same as that of the water administrative department determined by law, and its scope of functions is much narrower than that of the latter, so it is impossible to effectively manage the water resources in this basin. A prominent example is that in order to compete for the Yellow River water from April to June, even the Yellow River diversion sluice managed by the Yellow River system is difficult to operate as planned from time to time due to local administrative intervention, which makes the originally uncomplicated water transfer complicated and helpless, adding a lot of passivity and difficulty to the management of the Yellow River water resources.

2.2. In terms of water use mechanism, water-saving mechanism is not encouraged, which makes the Yellow River water resources waste seriously.

A prominent feature of China's existing water use mechanism is that there is no reward for water saving, no punishment for waste, and more use and less samples. Such a water use mechanism makes people feel that water consumption has little to do with their own economic interests. At the same time, the Yellow River water resource fee has not been levied, and the water price is low. In addition, water users feel that the benefits of water saving are not great, and even if they don't get any benefits, they will "lose money". In reality, compared with the cost of water saving, in many cases, the cost of water saving measures is much lower than that of water saving measures. Who wants to do more in a market economy? Therefore, people all know that the contradiction between supply and demand of water resources in the Yellow River has seriously affected people's lives and the development of industrial and agricultural production along the Yellow River, but no one wants to be the first person to eat crabs in water conservation. Therefore, agricultural irrigation is still rampant; All kinds of irrigation projects in the Yellow River Diversion Irrigation Area are not matched, the channels and buildings are aging and disrepair, and the lining of the channels is in poor condition, allowing them to run, run, drip and leak; The unit water consumption of industrial water is high, and the reuse rate of water has not improved. It can be said that the great waste of water resources in the Yellow River has a great relationship with the current water use mechanism in China.

2.3. The management mode of water resources is still simple, extensive and low-level.

Mainly manifested in three aspects: First, the Yellow River Department lacks a strong restraint mechanism and management means for the Yellow River water resources, and it is difficult to control and coordinate users' water intake, so that there is a big error in the measurement of water users' metering facilities during the water intake process. Some water users don't even install metering facilities when taking water from the Yellow River, and it sometimes happens that water users conceal, falsely report or miss the actual water intake; Second, grass-roots managers have a weak sense of responsibility and do not actually measure the water diversion flow during the water diversion process. Some just visually or simply sit in the office and "estimate". In addition, some grass-roots managers know little about measurement methods, technical principles and operating procedures of measurement facilities. Third, the Yellow River Department only pays attention to water release, but seldom really grasps the purpose of water transfer, water use efficiency, over-quota water transfer and water-saving measures of water users. It is difficult for such a management model to effectively and scientifically manage the development, utilization and protection of the Yellow River water resources, and it is also difficult for users to truly trust and obey the Yellow River water resources management department in terms of water resources management and protection, so that the responsibilities and authority of the Yellow River department cannot be truly implemented.

2.4. On the management system of water resources in the Yellow River, there is still "multi-dragon water control" in the Yellow River system, and the management system has not been straightened out.

Experts have been calling for unified ownership management of water resources. Of course, this theory is aimed at regional management and watershed management of water resources, but I think it should also include centralized management of water resources. In our Yellow River system, there are quite a few ports to "manage" water, such as water intake permit, water quantity dispatching and water quality management right of the Yellow River, which belong to different departments respectively. Take all the bureaus and subordinate units of Shandong Bureau as an example. Water administration (water resources) department and disaster prevention office (some bureaus are industry management departments, others are sluice departments) all manage the water resources of the Yellow River from different angles. The water administration (water resources) department is generally responsible for the annual water intake plan, water intake permit, planned water consumption statistics and water fee collection, and is required to fill in the daily water intake report every month and summarize the annual water intake at the end of the year. The Office of Prevention (some bureaus are industry management departments, others are culvert departments) is generally responsible for water dispatching, water distribution, culvert maintenance and management, etc. There is a monthly report on the daily flow of culvert (siphon) and a compilation of culvert data at the end of the year. Although the emphasis of each port management is different, in the final analysis, it is all about the management of water resources. It is inevitable that each port will repeat the work in management, which not only increases the workload, but also is not conducive to reducing staff and increasing efficiency. Moreover, it is easy to shirk or even wrangle in practical work. More importantly, multi-sectoral management has affected the effectiveness of water resources management.

2.5. In terms of legal protection of water resources management in the Yellow River, legislation lags behind and supporting laws and regulations are not perfect.

Because the Yellow River implements basin management, the Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission is only an agency of the Ministry of Water Resources. When formulating relevant laws and regulations, there is neither government reliability nor big reference basis. Therefore, the formulation and promulgation of relevant laws and regulations are often relatively backward and difficult, which makes the development, utilization, management and protection of the Yellow River water resources lack a strong legal basis. The most typical example is the legal basis for levying the water resources fee of the Yellow River. The new water law stipulates that "the specific measures for the implementation of the water permit system and the collection and management of water resources fees shall be formulated by the State Council". The new water law has been promulgated and implemented for nearly two years, and there are no relevant regulations on the collection of water resources fees for the Yellow River.

3. Some suggestions or opinions

3. 1. Confirm the legal status and authority of river basin institutions according to law, and straighten out the water resources management system of the Yellow River.

Because the river basin organizations have no clear legal status and authority in law, and lack the complete water administrative management power, it is very unfavorable to the water resources management of the Yellow River and has caused great passivity to the water distribution, water quality protection and development and utilization of the Yellow River. At the beginning, the state set up river basin institutions to better manage river basin water resources. At present, due to the lack of legal "name" of river basin institutions, river basin water resources management is affected and constrained, and it should be given a "name" through legal procedures.

Experts have long called for the establishment of a unified management system for water resources protection based on river basins, in view of the problems such as the interruption of the Yellow River and the increasingly prominent contradiction between supply and demand of water resources. Implement unified ownership management of water resources, and realize integrated management of flood control, water supply, water use, water storage, water saving, drainage, water resources protection, sewage treatment and reuse, and groundwater recharge. While establishing this management system, it is necessary to strengthen management, improve the restraint mechanism, comprehensively improve the quality of water resources managers internally, strengthen water supervision and inspection externally, and establish a set of procedures for water demand-water supply-water intake-water use investigation (report). Only in this way can the limited water resources in China be effectively and reasonably utilized and the contradiction of water crisis be alleviated.

In view of the multi-port water control situation in the Yellow River system, it is suggested that the relevant departments should straighten out as soon as possible, the merged ports should be merged, and the centralized power should be centralized, so as to truly establish a water resources management system of the Yellow River, which is rationalized from top to bottom, managed by counterparts, with clear rights and responsibilities and clear authority.

3.2. Pay equal attention to increasing revenue and reducing expenditure and protection, and put water conservation in the first place.

The average annual runoff of the Yellow River has been determined, and the contradiction of water resources in the Yellow River has become increasingly prominent. In order to increase the availability of water resources in the Yellow River, it is not unreasonable to build the South-to-North Water Transfer Project by using various water sources. But as the saying goes, "it's a stopgap measure, a helpless move." As the second longest river in China, the development and utilization of its water resources must take a long-term view. As mentioned earlier, the Yellow River is a serious waste of water resources, and agricultural water accounts for 92% of the total water consumption, which has great water-saving potential. Therefore, we should put water conservation in the first place, improve the water use mechanism, implement quota management for all kinds of water use, implement progressive price increase for over-quota water use, implement punitive water price for wasted water resources, commend and reward outstanding water savers, improve the utilization rate of water resources, especially agricultural water use, actively build sprinkler irrigation, micro-irrigation and drip irrigation facilities, actively promote water-saving facilities and technologies, and strengthen supervision over new and rebuilt projects. Urge them to use water-saving products designated by the state, make water-saving actions enter every industry and every field, take effective measures to prevent the water quality of the Yellow River from being polluted, and manage water resources from the perspective of adhering to the sustainable development strategy.

3.3. Establish and improve laws and regulations on water resources management of the Yellow River, and provide legal basis for water resources management of the Yellow River.

At present, there are few laws and regulations on the management and protection of water resources in the Yellow River, and they are not matched, so it is difficult to realize the true sense of "managing the river according to law" and "managing water according to law". In addition, due to the existence of local protectionism, it is difficult to introduce some laws and regulations on water resources management of the Yellow River. The Yellow River is the Yellow River of our Chinese nation. We should manage it by law while relying on administrative and economic means. Therefore, the basin law, the Yellow River law, the water resources management regulations, the Yellow River water resources fee collection method, the Yellow River groundwater resources management method, the Yellow River water resources protection management method and the Yellow River water unified dispatching method should be promulgated as soon as possible, so as to provide legal basis for the Yellow River water resources management and make the Yellow River benefit the Chinese nation forever.

Author: Bincheng Yellow River Affairs Bureau

Second, the Yellow River cut-off and river basin ecological environment construction

The Yellow River was cut off from 1972, and it became more frequent in 1990s. The river closure time and distance are prolonged, and the lower reaches of the Yellow River are in danger of becoming an intermittent river.

Present situation and trend of yellow river cutoff

The Yellow River was cut off from Lijin, Shandong Province on 1972, and then it became more and more serious. During the 27 years from 1972 to 1998, there were 2 1 times of water cut-off in the downstream, especially in the 1990s, the first time of water cut-off was advanced, and the time and distance of water cut-off were continuously extended. 1997 Shandong Lijin Station stopped water 13 times, for a total of 226 days. No Yellow River water enters the sea for 330 days, and the starting point of cutoff extends to the vicinity of Liuyuankou in Kaifeng, with a total length of 704 kilometers, accounting for 90% of the length of the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Not only that, the main tributaries of the middle reaches of the Yellow River have also been cut off. The headwaters of the Yellow River began to cut off in 1997, and the first cut-off occurred in the spring of Zhaling Lake to Eling Lake 1999, with a completely exposed reach of 8 kilometers.

Influence of the Yellow River cut-off

The cut-off of the Yellow River has caused the imbalance between supply and demand of water resources along the Yellow River, and the contradiction between industrial and agricultural production, urban life and ecological environment has become increasingly acute, which has greatly affected the social and economic development and ecological environment along the Yellow River and increased the hidden dangers of flood control in the downstream.

The production and life of industry and agriculture in the lower reaches of the Yellow River are seriously endangered 1972 ~ 1996. The total economic losses of industry and agriculture caused by water cut-off and insufficient water supply are about 26.8 billion yuan, with an average annual loss of more than 1 1 billion yuan. In the 1990s, due to the increasingly serious cut-off, the average annual loss has reached 3.6 billion yuan. The drought-affected area of farmland was 4.7 million hectares, and the grain output was reduced by 9.86 billion kilograms. Shengli oilfield has reduced its production by several hundred thousand tons due to the reduction of water injection. The Yellow River brings economic benefits of 654.38+000 billion yuan to Shandong every year, and its interruption affects Shandong's economic development. The longest interruption in the history of 654.38+0997 has caused tens of billions of direct economic losses to Shandong Province. During the seven years from 1992 to 1998 in Binzhou, the industrial and agricultural losses caused by water stoppage and pollution were 158 billion yuan, including 400 million yuan in agricultural losses and 350 million yuan in drought relief funds. The interruption of the Yellow River makes the delta face a serious water crisis, which will directly affect the implementation of the sustainable development strategy. The interruption of the Yellow River has also disturbed people's normal life and work order. Dongying, Binzhou, Dezhou and other cities in Shandong often adopt limited water supply because of insufficient water supply.

It has a great impact on the ecological environment along the Yangtze River, especially in the estuary delta. This influence is mainly manifested in the following aspects: First, coastal erosion and retreat. Due to the decrease of sediment entering the sea, the coastline of the Yellow River Delta has been dominated by net erosion, which has led to the coast retreating. The second is the deterioration of groundwater environment. Due to the decrease of surface fresh water supply, the increase of underground fresh water consumption, the decline of groundwater level, seawater intrusion and salt water intrusion, the water quality deteriorated. Third, the environmental capacity of surface water is reduced and the pollution is aggravated. Due to the increase of sewage discharge and the decrease of surface water, the concentration of pollutants in major rivers not only exceeds the water quality standard of fishery water, but also reaches or exceeds the lethal concentration of fish in the middle and lower reaches of some tributaries, and many rivers are basically extinct. Fourthly, the salinization and desertification of the land in the estuary have degraded the wetland ecosystem. The surface vegetation in the Yellow River Delta is very fragile and easy to succession. The vegetation is mainly grassland, with grassland 2180,000 square kilometers, including natural grassland185,000 square kilometers. Due to the cut-off, not only the soil is salinized, the grassland degenerates into halophytes, but also the growth of artificial grassland is affected. Fifth, the biodiversity of estuaries and offshore waters decreased, and the biological population and genetic diversity were lost. Due to the interruption of water flow and the imbalance of water environment, the delta wetland seriously threatens the survival and reproduction of thousands of aquatic organisms, hundreds of wild plants and 180 birds in the wetland reserve, resulting in a decrease in the number of biological populations and a simple structure. Cut-off has deprived the Bohai Sea of important food sources, affected the reproduction of marine life, and made it impossible for more than ten kinds of fish to migrate.

The shrinkage of the river channel changes the scouring pattern of the river channel. Sediment deposition makes the river channel shrink, the riverbed rise, and the lower reaches of the Yellow River become a suspended river on the ground, which reduces the flood discharge capacity, increases the risk of breach diversion, and threatens the safety of people's lives and property downstream.

The main reasons for the interruption of the Yellow River

Hydrologically, the Yellow River cutoff belongs to seasonal variation of water quantity. But in essence, stopping water is a reflection of the contradiction between human needs and fragile ecological environment.

The sharp increase in water consumption is the fundamental reason for the interruption of the Yellow River. Most areas of the Yellow River Basin belong to arid and semi-arid areas. Especially since the 1990s, rainfall runoff is less, and the per capita and per mu water consumption is far below the national average. Drought is the natural cause of the interruption of the Yellow River.

The industrial and agricultural production in the Yellow River basin has developed rapidly, and the water consumption has increased sharply. 90% of the Yellow River water is used for agricultural irrigation, and the irrigation area of Yellow River diversion increased from 800,000 hectares in the early days of the People's Republic of China to 73 1 10,000 hectares in 1994. The water consumption of agriculture, industry and life in the whole basin has increased year by year:17.4 billion cubic meters in 1949, 124 billion cubic meters in 1950s and 29.6 billion cubic meters in 1990s. At present, the actual water consumption in the Yellow River Basin has exceeded 37 billion cubic meters, which can't guarantee the ecological water consumption for river scouring (265.438+0 billion cubic meters). At present, the development and utilization rate of the Yellow River runoff has exceeded 50% of the average natural runoff for many years, exceeding the utilization level of other rivers in China and developed countries such as the United States and Japan. It can be seen that the sharp increase in water consumption is the fundamental reason for the interruption of the Yellow River.

The deterioration of ecological environment in the headwaters and middle and upper reaches Qinghai is the largest runoff-producing area and water conservation area in the Yellow River basin, with the basin area accounting for 19.6% of the total basin area, while the runoff accounts for nearly 1/2 of the total runoff of the Yellow River. Vegetation destruction leads to grassland desertification and water conservation function decline. Since the mid-1980s, the runoff in the upper reaches of the Yellow River began to decrease year by year, and the decrease became more obvious after 1990s. 1997 from June to March, the runoff decreased by 23% to the lowest point in history, and it stopped flowing for the first time, and the downstream was the most serious in history. In the loess plateau area of the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River, soil erosion is serious and sediment keeps falling. The annual sediment input into the Yellow River is 65.438+0.6 billion tons, and the annual sediment deposited in the downstream riverbed is 400 million tons. The riverbed is raised by 65.438+00 cm every year, which is 3 ~ 65.438+00 meters higher than the land on both sides of the river, forming a "suspended river" of nearly a thousand miles on the ground, and the downstream banks are becoming more and more dangerous.

Lack of unified management, low utilization rate of water resources, the Yellow River backbone projects and large irrigation areas belong to different departments and regions, and the management system and operation mechanism of unified dispatching and hierarchical management of water resources in the Yellow River are not perfect, making it difficult to achieve overall consideration of the upper, middle and lower reaches of the whole river. The upstream irrigation area accounts for 27% of the whole basin, but the water consumption accounts for 44% of the whole basin irrigation water. The utilization rate of agricultural irrigation water is only 30%, and the repetition rate of industrial water is only 20% ~ 30%. The average water consumption per 10,000 yuan output value is more than 1 times higher than the national average, and more than 6 times higher than that of advanced countries. Extensive management and serious waste of water resources are the main reasons for the interruption of the Yellow River. In addition, the treatment rate of industrial wastewater in the whole basin is less than 2 1%, which further aggravates the shortage of water resources.

Basic countermeasures to alleviate the interruption of the Yellow River

The increasingly serious interruption of the lower reaches of the Yellow River has attracted the attention of all walks of life. Relevant departments organized experts and scholars to conduct on-the-spot investigation and discussion on the causes, effects and countermeasures of network disconnection, and put forward many opinions and suggestions.

The basic countermeasures to alleviate the interruption of the Yellow River can be summarized as the following four aspects:

1. Strengthen the unified management and protection of water resources in the basin and implement unified water dispatching in the whole basin;

2. Adhere to the water-saving policy, develop water-saving agriculture and establish water-saving industries;

3. Strengthen the protection and construction of river basin ecological environment;

4. Accelerate the process of South-to-North Water Transfer.