For the most part the main channel of the river in the middle reaches is constricted between a long stretch of narrow gorges extending from Hekouzhen 河口镇 in Inner Mongolia 内蒙古 from the north, to Yumenkou 禹门口 to the south. At Yumenkou, the river drops through a set of cascades 壶口瀑布 (top picture) and emerges into an open plain (bottom picture). This section of the channel is so favorable for the building of dams, no engineer can resist the temptation of adding a dam to every adequate site. Eight hydropower sites have been identified, and they are at Wanjiazhai 万家寨, Longkou 龙口, Tianqiao 天桥, Qikou 碛口, Jundu 军渡, Sanjiao 三交, Longmen 龙门 and Yumenkou 禹门口. Only the Tianqiao run-of-river power plant 河床式 径流 电站 is completed, while Wanjiazhai is under construction. Because of the river's heavy sediment load, none of these projects are expected to have a long useful life. Shouldn't the sediment problem be first solved before the dams are built? The sediment accumulated in their reservoirs will seriously alter the nature of the river within twenty years. Are we so selfish as to leave the sediment-clearing problem to our future generations, while we enjoy the benefits of the electric power that these projects generate?

黄河于壶口瀑布
滚滚黄河, 从 17米 的 高处 跌入 只有 30 多米宽 的 石槽里.
水花 飞溅, 涛声 震天, 激流 澎湃, 形成了 "源出 昆仑 衍大海,
玉关 九转 一壶收" 的 壮美 景观.


黄河于禹门口
禹门口 也称 龙门, 是 黄河晋陕峡谷 的 终结点.

图片资料: 黄河水利委员会 编:《黄河风》, 黄河水利出版社, 1996.