IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i19p8826-d1763541.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Water-Sediment Regulation Operation on Nitrogen Concentration, Transformation and Sources in the Lower Yellow River

Author

Listed:
  • Yanli Li

    (State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
    Institute of Resources and Environment, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China)

  • Kaiyang Gao

    (Institute of Resources and Environment, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China)

  • Lei Cheng

    (State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

  • Shihang Ren

    (Institute of Resources and Environment, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China)

Abstract

The Yellow River (YR) has the highest suspended sediment concentration in the world, with its water and sediment exerting a significant influence on nutrient transport and transformation processes. The periodic regulation of water and sediment by the Xiaolangdi Dam, has significantly altered downstream water and sediment transport. This study examined the impact of the Xiaolangdi Dam’s 2023 water-sediment regulation on nitrogen dynamics in the lower Yellow River (LYR). Surface water, suspended sediment, and deposited sediment samples were collected at seven downstream stations to analyze changes in nitrogen concentration, sources, and transformation processes. As the water regulation stage progresses, the (total nitrogen) TN concentration in the water phase decreased, while that of NO 3 - -N increased slightly. Concurrently, the inorganic nitrogen concentration in the suspended phase also declined. As the sediment regulation stage progresses, the TN and NO 3 − -N concentrations in the water phase continued to decrease, while the inorganic nitrogen concentration in the suspended phase showed an initial increase followed by a decrease. As the early stage of sediment regulation progresses, ammonia concentrations decreased, while nitrate concentrations increased and δ 18 O-NO 3 − value decreased indicated nitrification occurred. As the late stage of sediment regulation progresses, nitrate concentrations decreased and the δ 15 N-NO 3 − value increased, indicated denitrification occurred. The TN flux during water-sediment regulation reaches 41.5 kt (14.6% of the annual flux). During the water-sediment regulation stage, the main nitrate sources were manure and sewage. This contribution peaked at 54.2% during the sediment regulation stage. The research results provide a scientific basis for the relationship between water and sediment changes and nitrogen output changes in the LYR.

Suggested Citation

  • Yanli Li & Kaiyang Gao & Lei Cheng & Shihang Ren, 2025. "Impact of Water-Sediment Regulation Operation on Nitrogen Concentration, Transformation and Sources in the Lower Yellow River," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8826-:d:1763541
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8826/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8826/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Qinghe Zhao & Shengyan Ding & Xiaoyu Ji & Zhendong Hong & Mengwen Lu & Peng Wang, 2021. "Relative Contribution of the Xiaolangdi Dam to Runoff Changes in the Lower Yellow River," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Antonio J. Sanhouse-García & Jesús Gabriel Rangel-Peraza & Sergio A. Rentería-Guevara & Yaneth A. Bustos-Terrones & Zuriel D. Mora-Félix & Wenseslao Plata-Rocha & Sergio Alberto Monjardin-Armenta, 2021. "Flood-Prone Area Delineation in Urban Subbasins Based on Stream Ordering: Culiacan Urban Basin as a Study Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Qinghe Zhao & Shengyan Ding & Zihan Geng & Xunling Lu & Zhendong Hong & Yi Liu & Jinhai Yu, 2022. "Concentration, Health Risk, and Hydrological Forcing of Heavy Metals in Surface Water Following Water-Sediment Regulation of the Xiaolangdi Dam in the Yellow River," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-17, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8826-:d:1763541. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.