Impacts of Sanmenxia Dam and management strategies

Sanmenxia Dam is located in the middle reach of theYellow River, which carries the highest sediment load of all the world’s rivers. Due to the alarming rate of loss of reservoir storage capacity and the unacceptable negative impact induced by the rapid upstream extension of sediment deposited in the river’s backwater region, the dam has been reconstructed to provide high sediment releasing capacity, and the reservoir operation has been substantially changed to achieve a balance between sediment inflow and outflow, and eventually to minimize the adverse effect of reservoir sedimentation. Complex sedimentation processes in response to the dam reconstruction and operation have been observed. Valuable experiences and lessons can be learned from the case study on sedimentation management.