The middle gorge section.
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 in Inner Mongolia from the north, to
Yumenkou to the south.
At Yumenkou, the river drops through a
set of cascades (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, Longkou,
Tianqiao, Qikou, Jundu, Sanjiao,
Longmen and Yumenkou.
Only the Tianqiao
run-of-river power plant 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?
The Hukou cascades
Yellow River at Yumenkou
Picture source: YRCC, Huanghe Feng,
Yellow River Pub House, 1996.