Yellow River hasn't run dry since 1999: Ministry

China's Yellow River has consistently maintained year-round flow since 1999 as unified water regulation has helped prevent dry-ups along its main course, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources said.

At 8 am on Wednesday, Lijin hydrological station, the national hydrological station at the lowest reach of the river, recorded a real-time flow of 2,030 cubic meters per second, the commission stated in a media release.

Authorized by the State Council, the commission launched unified water regulation for the Yellow River in 1999, China's first basin-wide unified water resources management initiative on any of its major rivers.

The system has evolved from ensuring the river does not run dry to refined regulation that balances water supply, food security, ecological protection, flood control and power generation, the commission stated.

In the 2025-26 water regulation year, major runoff areas in the Yellow River Basin received 48.9 billion cubic meters of water, 7 percent above the long-term average, it said.

Working with provincial authorities and major reservoir operators, the commission says it has implemented the ministry-approved annual regulation plan and optimized scheduling on monthly — and, during peak demand, 10-day — intervals.

Thanks to these efforts, no dry-up or low-flow warning has occurred along the river's main course, it said.

The commission also supplied 459 million cubic meters of ecological water to Ulansuhai Nur, a lake in the western part of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and 216 million cubic meters to the Yellow River Delta, while transferring 346 million cubic meters from the river to Hebei.

During spring and summer irrigation peaks, the river supplied more than 11 billion cubic meters of water along its main course, supporting grain production across the basin, the commission said.