Have conservation measures improved Yellow River health?

Excerpt

The Yellow River is the second-longest river in China with a length of 5,464 km (3,395 mi). It originates from the eastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau flows eastward through the Loess Plateau, and empties into the Bohai Sea. The whole river basin, which covers approximately 752,443 km² (290,520 mi²), was regarded as “the cradle of Chinese Civilization” (Zhu et al. 2004) and has played an important role in regional economic development. However, extreme floods, hyperconcentrated sediment flow, and water shortages have been ongoing environmental problems that the Chinese national government must face and resolve in the Yellow River Basin.

The Yellow River is well known worldwide due to its extraordinarily high suspended sediment concentration. The Loess Plateau, located in the upper-middle reaches of the Yellow River, contributed approximately 90% of the sediment in the mainstream. Additionally, catastrophic floods that occurred frequently in the tributaries during summer months brought hyperconcentrated sediment flow to the main stem of the river. Large amounts of sediment deposition have made the Yellow River a “suspended” river in which the channel bottom reaches up to 10 m (33 ft) above ground. The continual elevation of the river bed has resulted in a great decline of sediment transport capacity.