Regime Shifts in the Huanghe Freshwater Discharge During the Past Fifty Years

Based on the collected hydrological data at Lijin Station observed during the period of 1950-2002, the STARS method is used to study the regime shifts in Huanghe freshwater discharge. The four regime shifts in discharge occurred in 1961, 1971, 1980 and 2000, respectively. The mean precipitation over the whole Huanghe basin was relatively stable, while the trans- region water diversion increased year by year, and shifted in 1969, 1978, and 1997, respectively. It seems that it is human activities rather than climate factors that regulate the abrupt changes of Huanghe freshwater discharge into Bohai, the largest inland sea in China.