Spatial and Temporal Changes of Sand Mining in the Yangtze River Basin since the Establishment of the Three Gorges Dam

Yugai Ma, Yingying Chai, Y. Jun Xu, Zijun Li () and Shuwei Zheng ()
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Yugai Ma: Department of Resource and Environment, Shijiazhuang University, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Yingying Chai: College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
Y. Jun Xu: Coastal Studies Inst, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Zijun Li: College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
Shuwei Zheng: College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-12

Abstract: The global demand for sand and gravel is at 50 billion tons per year, far exceeding global resource capacities. It reached 7.6 billion tons in 2021 in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB), China. However, production is severely limited in the YRB. Therefore, the incongruity between the supply and demand of river sand is prominent. Wise management of decreasing sand resources in the YRB has become critical since the Three Gorges Dam became operational in 2003. This study synthesized spatial and temporal changes in sand mining activities and quantities along the Yangtze River and its major tributaries from 2004 to 2020. Results from the study show that the mining amount during the period reached 76.2 million tons annually. At the same time, riverine suspended sediment discharge (SSD) downstream of the Three Gorges Dam decreased largely. SSD reduction leads to riverbed erosion, further limiting the riverine sand and gravel sources for mining. Thus, alternative sand and gravel resources, as well as optimizing supply/demand balance, are necessary for sustainable development. There is an urgent need to assess the relationship between river sand resources and exploitation in the YRB for creating a sand and gravel data management system in order to cope with the increasing incongruity between their supply and demand.

Keywords: sand mining; spatial and temporal changes; governance strategy; Three Gorges Dam; Yangtze River Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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