The central urban area of Ordos in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region recently began providing water from the Yellow River through its "sediment blocking for water right exchange" project. 

This marked the first time since the 1987 implementation of the Yellow River Water Allocation Plan that a city along the Yellow River has achieved water quota exchange through sediment blocking engineering. The project not only effectively curbs sediment inflow into the Yellow River but also provides an innovative solution to the city's water scarcity issues.

Guided by the government and funded by enterprises, Ordos invested 615 million yuan ($87.36 million) over past three years to construct 151 sediment dams and a flood detention project in the 10 main sediment-producing tributaries of the local section of the Yellow River. 

This initiative has reduced sediment flow into the Yellow River by 5 million metric tons annually, securing a water quota of 28 million cubic meters from the Yellow River per year for residential use and industrial production, and thus addressing soil erosion and water scarcity in key areas.

Ten tributaries collectively feed about 27 million tons of sediment into the Yellow River annually, severely impacting the river basin's ecological and social safety. 

In response, Dalad Banner in Ordos, for instance, has implemented comprehensive measures such as afforestation upstream, road construction in the middle reaches, and dam construction downstream. It has boosted forest and vegetation coverage from 10.2 percent and 64.4 percent in 2001 to current 28.9 percent and 78.8 percent, treated 3,860 square kilometers of area suffering from soil erosion, and built dams extending 167 km.

Zhang Qiang, director of the soil and water conservation division of the Ordos water resources bureau, highlighted that the city has established 17 sediment monitoring stations and 12 ecological benefit monitoring points to scientifically evaluate the effectiveness of the "sediment blocking for water right exchange" project.

The project has actively engaged private capital, attracting 415 million yuan in investment from enterprises. Four major industrial ventures each with investment of over 10 billion yuan have commenced, generating significant economic benefits.