The YaLu River

Introduction of Yalu River ③It runs through a wet temperate zone; receives average annual precipitation of 900 mm; The temperature range is from -22 ℃ ~to 22 ℃. From Dec to Apr the river surface is usually frozen; ④Yalu river is primarily important as a source of hydroelectricity ①Yalu river lies between China and North Korea as a boundary river; ②Yalu river runs about 795 kilometers, and the river surface covers about 400 square kilometers;

The Source of Yalu River BaiTou Mountain Yalu river comes from the Heaven Lake which is at the peak of BaiTou Mountain on the border of China and North Korea and is the highest lake in the world. You might wonder: How could the lake be formed on the mountain peak? Here is a history documentary with animation: Really cool!! 2744m Heaven Lake

The lake covers 9.8 square kilometers; the average depth is 204 meters, and it holds 2.4 billion cubic meters of water.

DAMS Along the Yalu River WenYue WangJiangLou ShuiFeng TaiPingWan YunFeng WeiYuan There were four dams built by China and North Korea along the river, which are mainly concrete gravity dams(in green). There are two more dams under construction(in yellow). Out let of Yalu River

1.There is a 2400m drop in altitude between upstream and downstream along the river 2.The average river flow is about 1005 m^3/s 3.Every year when ice starts thawing, there is spring flooding 4. Dams are mainly for hydroelectricity and flood control.

Cascade Hydropower Stations Based on the direction of the river flow, there are four cascade hydropower stations built along with those dams before Direction of River flow ShuiFeng Station WeiYuan Station

In January 2010, the two sides signed an agreement known as the “Minutes of the Ninth Meeting on China-North Korean Construction of Yalu River Dams at Wangjianglou and WenYue” in which it was agreed to start the construction of the two power stations. A ceremony marking the beginning of construction was held on March 31, 2010, attended by North Korean vice-minister of electricity industry Kim Man-su and JiLin vice-governor Chen Weigen. Wangjianglou power station plans require $88 million invested by the Chinese government; Wen Yue power station plans require $73 million invested by the DPRK. In order to solve the shortage of construction funds, the DPRK asked China to take charge of the construction investment. After the completion of the power station, the DPRK will pay back the investment to China by supplying them hydropower from the station.

Benefit and Resources sharing Since these hydropower stations are on both sides of the YaLu River, they are managed separately by each country. However, based on the agreement between China and DPRK, the two countries share the annual energy output equally. According to the agreement between China and North Korea, the width of the river determines the width of the boundary at any given time. The two counties manage and use the river together, including the navigation rights. In this regard, the border is not set by the main channel of the river. Therefore, boats from the two countries can use the entire width of the river. In Dandong city of China, no border permissions are required to enjoy the scenery of another country along the river.

Fish in the Yalu River Because of the rich water resources, there were 62 different kinds of fish in the river, but the number of species declined to 42 due to overfishing. Silverfish Dolly Varden High nutritional value

Responsibilities sharing ---- fish protection After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in1949, China and North Korea took action to strengthen the protection and development of fish in the Yalu river. In June 1959, China’s LiaoNing Province and DPRK’s south P’yong Province signed an agreement on releasing fish into the river: each side would release 1 million baby bighead carp and 3 million eggs in the Yalu river each year to enable the sustainable reproduction and growth of the fish species.

On Dec 19, 1972, in Beijing, the Chinese and DPRK’s government signed an agreement on fish resources protection for the ShuiFeng reservoir: Both sides would create better conditions for carp fish to lay eggs. Every year from May 15 to June 30 each side would deploy 30 thousand artificial fish nests at appropriate locations in the ShuiFeng reservior. (7:42~9:14) ShuiFeng Reservior History documentary:

Responsibilities Sharing --- protecting people living along the river In April 2011, authorities of China and North Korea signed a cooperative agreement on the management of the Yalu River. In the agreement, the two sides vowed to conduct joint patrols and rescue on the river. As mentioned, the Yalu River runs through the wet region of a temperate zone. It receives precipitation of 870mm annually in the upstream area, and the distribution increases as it flows downstream. Every year when ice starts melting, there is a spring flood.

QUESTIONS 1.Compared to other transboundary rivers or waters that we discussed previously, the YaLu River as a boundary of China and DPRK appears to be a peaceful and friendly. What do you think about it? What are the reasons bring two countries together to make agreements on benefit and responsibilities equally, will this last long? 2.We talked about sustainable and unsustainable development of water resources. Do you think YaLu River development is on the sustainable side or the unsustainable side? Why or why not?