Artificial waves on the Yellow River rushed into the Bohai Sea
early Thursday morning at a speed of 1,880 cubic meters per second.
Scientists said the waves have carried vast amounts of riverbed
silt into the ocean.
Waves of water were released on the morning of July 4 from the
Xiaolangdi Reservoir, in central China's Henan
Province, in an unprecedented experiment to rid the river of
its siltation problem.
"The experiment was conducted to find the best pressure to send
enough water flowing to the lower reaches to flush the silt
deposits away," said Li Guoying, director of the Yellow River Water
Conservancy Committee.
An
inspection of the flushing results and terrain in the lower reaches
of the river began on Thursday.
Every year, 1.6 billion tons of silt are swept down to the lower
reaches of the flood-prone river, of which 400 million tons are
deposited on the riverbed. As a result, the river bed rises by 10
centimeters (4 inches) each year. In some places, banks built to
withstand floods are much higher than nearby townships.
(Xinhua News
Agency July 12, 2002)