On the variation of water resource structure in the Lower Yellow River

In view of river functions and the Minimum Water Demand for River Ecosystem (MWDRE), the water resources in the Lower Yellow River is further divided into three portions, i.e. water available for ecosystem (WE), water exploitable for socioeconomic purposes (WS) and excess flood water (WF). Corresponding conceptions and practical significances are expounded in details. The annual amount of the three portions of water resources from 1950 to 2001 is worked out on the basis of the daily hydrologic data, and the division of different portions is discussed. The results indicate that although the essential water demand for river functions is considered preferentially, the amount of the WE has decreased dramatically while its proportion increased gradually since the 1950s, and the shortage to the MWDRE increased markedly; both the amount and the proportion of the WS decreased notably. Since the 1990s, the actual water consumption for socioeconomic purposes in the lower reaches of the river basin has already exceeded the maximum amount of the WS and has to take over the WE which is already insufficient, hence not only the normal river functions are further disturbed and the river course shrinks greatly, but also the proportion and potential danger of the WF show no decreasing tendency in spite of the sharp decrease of upstream runoff.