1. College of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450011, P. R. China
2. Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, Zhengzhou 450003, P. R. China
3. Yellow River Henan Bureau, Yellow River Conservancy Commission, Zhengzhou 450000, P. R. China

The Xiaolangdi Reservoir has entered the later sediment-retaining period, and new sediment transport phenomena and channel re-establishing behaviors are appearing. A physical model test was used to forecast the scouring and silting trends of the lower Yellow River. Based on water and sediment data from the lower Yellow River during the period from 1960 to 2012, and using a statistical method, this paper analyzed the sediment transport in sediment-laden flows with different discharges and sediment concentrations in the lower Yellow River. The results show that rational water-sediment regulation is necessary to avoid silting in the later sediment-retaining period. The combination of 3 000 m3/s < Q < 4 000 m3/s and 20 kg/m3 < S < 60 kg/m3 (where Q is the discharge and S is the sediment concentration) at the Huayuankou section is considered an optimal combination for equilibrium sediment transport in the lower Yellow River over a long period of time.

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 51039004 and No. 51079055), the High-Level Personnel Research Start-Up Funds of North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power (Grant No. 201403), and the Science and Technology Research Project of the Education Department of Henan Province (Grant No. 14A570001).

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