On geo-basis of river regulation —A case study for the middle reaches of the Yangtze River

From the point of view that people have to obey the river’s geo-attributes in the river regulation, the definition and the meaning of the geo-attributes of a river are discussed. The geo-basis of the river regulation of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is expounded in five aspects, including the structural geomorphology environment of flood storage and discharge, the distribution characteristics of subsidence and the sedimentation areas of Dongting Basin, the history evolution of Jianghan Basin, the function of Jianghan Basin and Dongting Basin as the flood water detention areas of Jingjiang River reach in ancient time, and the geological characteristic of Jingjiang River reach. Based on the geo-attributes of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, some ideas about the middle reach regulation of the Yangtze River are put forward: to process the interchange between the lakes and diked marsh areas in Dongting Basin, to canal the new river route as the flood diversion channel of Jingjiang River reach with the paleo river, to recover the function of Jianghan Basin as flood detention area of the middle reaches. And we should take into consideration the geo-environment of the whole Yangtze River in the river regulation of middle reaches. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50579039)