Check Dam in the Loess Plateau of China: Engineering for Environmental Services and Food Security.

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (24) ◽  
pp. 10298-10299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafeng Wang ◽  
Bojie Fu ◽  
Liding Chen ◽  
Yihe Lü ◽  
Yang Gao
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Check Dam ◽  
The Loess Plateau

The Roles of Check Dams and Dam-Trapped Farmlands in the Hilly and Ravine Region of the Loess Plateau: Soil Erosion Control, Grain Production and Food Security 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baiqun Wang ◽  
Weiqin Dang ◽  
Tianmin Dang
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Check Dam ◽  
Grain Production ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Soil And Water

<p>The soils are susceptible to water erosion in the hilly and ravine region of the Loess Plateau due to the readily erodible attribute of soils, erosive geomorphology, land use and land cover, and erosive rainfall. The soil and water losses induced by water erosion have the significant on-site impacts on crop growths and yields in this region because of soil nutrient depletion and adverse soil moisture condition. In addition, the crops grown in different land types frequently suffer from the seasonal draught due to climate change, which leads to the decline or failure of crop yield. Therefore, the crop yields and grain production are susceptibly stressed by soil erosion and drought in this region. Soil erosion and draught are the essential issues faced by agriculture production and eco-environment. Alternatively, effective measures of soil and water conservation can incredibly control soil and water losses induced by water erosion, alleviate the influences of draught on crop yields, and sustain grain production in this region. The check dam is one of the widely adopted engineering measures of soil and water conservation in the valleys of the hilly and ravine region on the Loess Plateau. Check dam can play multiple roles in mitigating soil erosion, trapping eroded sediments, regulating runoff and creating the lands in the valleys in the context of water erosion. The check dam can control the soil erosion to some extent because it can raise the basis level of erosion in the valley. The lost sediment and runoff can be trapped by the check dam in a watershed, which can reduce resultant loss rate of soil and water in the outlet of the watershed and mitigate sediment loads in the rive connecting to the watershed. Moreover, the check dam can make sediments or eroded soils deposit so as to develop the relatively flat lands called as the dam-trapped farmland in the valleys. The dam-trapped farmlands along with the terrace lands are regarded as the crucial farmlands due to their excellent farming conditions in this region. Some grain crops, such corn, sorghum, millet or potato, are always grown in the dam-trapped farmlands, among which corn is frequently planted in this kind of farmland. The crop yields of the dam-trapped farmlands have been increasing over the last 60 years. It is evidenced that the yield of corn increased from 2250-3000 kg/ha in 1960s to 12000-15000 kg/ha at present. The corn yield of the dam-trapped farmland is 1.5-2.0 folds of that of the terrace land. The nutrient use efficiency and water use efficiency of corn in the dam-trapped farmland are much higher than those of terrace land. It can be seen that check dam have the powerful function mitigating the losses runoff and sediment, and dam-trapped land can play the critical parts in sustaining grain production and insuring food security in the hilly and ravine region of the Loess Plateau. </p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> soil erosion; check dam; dam-trapped farmland; grain production; food security; hilly and ravine region; Loess Plateau</p>

scholarly journals Physics-Based Simulation of Hydrologic Response and Sediment Transport in a Hilly-Gully Catchment with a Check Dam System on the Loess Plateau, China

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Honglei Tang ◽  
Qihua Ran ◽  
Jihui Gao
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Distributed Model ◽  
Check Dam ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Engineering Structures ◽  
Small Catchment ◽  
Check Dams ◽  
Water Redistribution ◽  
Physics Based Simulation

Check dams are among of the most widespread and effective engineering structures for conserving water and soil in the Loess Plateau since the 1950s, and have significantly modified the local hydrologic responses and landforms. A representative small catchment was chosen as an example to study the influences of check dams. A physics-based distributed model, the Integrated Hydrology Model (InHM), was employed to simulate the impacts of check dam systems considering four scenarios (pre-dam, single-dam, early dam-system, current dam-system). The results showed that check dams significantly alter the water redistribution in the catchment and influence the groundwater table in different periods. It was also shown that gully erosion can be alleviated indirectly due to the formation of the expanding sedimentary areas. The simulated residual deposition heights (Δh) matched reasonably well with the observed values, demonstrating that physics-based simulation can help to better understand the hydrologic impacts as well as predicting changes in sediment transport caused by check dams in the Loess Plateau.

Development of check-dam systems in gullies on the Loess Plateau, China

2004 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Xiang-zhou ◽  
Zhang Hong-wu ◽  
Zhang Ouyang
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Check Dam ◽  
The Loess Plateau

A laboratory study on the relative stability of the check-dam system in the Loess Plateau, China

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 629-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Z. Xu ◽  
H.-W. Zhang ◽  
G.-Q. Wang ◽  
Y. Peng ◽  
O. Y. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Laboratory Study ◽  
Relative Stability ◽  
Check Dam ◽  
The Loess Plateau

scholarly journals Has “Grain for Green” threaten food security on the Loess Plateau of China?

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1709560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Shi ◽  
Zhaohong Feng ◽  
Haidong Gao ◽  
Peng Li ◽  
Xiaoming Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Grain For Green

Effects of a check dam system on the runoff generation and concentration processes of a catchment on the Loess Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuilong Yuan ◽  
Chen Li ◽  
Zhanbin Li ◽  
Zeyu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Peak Discharge ◽  
Runoff Coefficient ◽  
Check Dam ◽  
Return Periods ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Hydrologic Process ◽  
Check Dams ◽  
Soil And Water

<p>As important soil and water conservation engineering measures, there are more than 100,000 check dams constructed on the Loess Plateau; these dams play a vital role in reducing floods and sediment in watersheds. However, the effects of check dams on hydrologic process are still unclear, particularly when they are deployed as a system for watershed soil and water management. This study examined the watershed hydrologic process modulated by the check dam system in a typical Loess Plateau catchment. By simulating scenarios with various numbers of check dams using a distributed physical-based hydrological model, the effects of the number of check dams on runoff generation and concentration were analyzed for the study catchment. The results showed that the presence of check dams reduced the peak discharge and the flood volume and extended the flood duration; the reduction effect on peak discharge was most significant among the three factors. The system of check dams substantially decreased the runoff coefficient, and the runoff coefficient reduction rate was greater for rainstorms with shorter return periods than for rainstorms with longer return periods. The check dams increased the capacity of the catchment regulating and storing floods and extended the average runoff concentration time in the catchment that flattened the instantaneous unit hydrograph. This study reveals the influencing mechanism of check dams on the hydrological process of a watershed under heavy rainstorm conditions and provides a theoretical basis for evaluating the effects of numerous check dams on regional hydrology and water resources on the Loess Plateau.</p>

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