China plans to build the Model of Loess Plateau in ten years, according to the source from Yellow River Water Resources Commission with the Ministry of Water Resources in Xian, Shanxi Province on December 12, 2004.

The Model of Loess Plateau is a high-tech model system designed to probe into the pattern of water and soil loss, and study the mode and cost-effectiveness of water and soil conservation in Loess Plateau. By applying up-to-date object-oriented simulation, measure control and information technologies, it will provide technical support and policy justification for the nation to protect and develop Yellow River and Loess Plateau, said Xue Songgui, General Engineer of the Commission.

Loess Plateau suffers from the most severe problem of water and soil loss in the world, with an average annual sediment accumulation of 1.6 billion tons, leading to the sedimentation and water shortage in the lower reaches of Yellow River. China plans to reduce the sediment from Loess Plateau into Yellow River by 800 million tons each year. To address this challenge, a new methodology is needed.

Consisting of a field model and an indoors model, the Model of Loess Plateau will constitute prototype measure, real object and scaling models. Two stagestest and full implementation stages are involved in the construction of the model.

Covering an area of 640,000 km2, the Loess Plateau is divided into different sections of diverse climatic and vegetation types, including 13 sub-areas of water and soil loss. As Zhou Yuelu, director of the Upper and Middle Reaches Administration of Yellow River Water Resources Commission pointed out, the similarity and relevance between the experimental result and actual situation varies from each other due to diverse types of water and soil loss, and the diverse climates, rainfall and vegetation conditions. This poses great challenge to the development of Model of Loess Plateau.

So far, the initial stage for the development of the model has been fully launched. An integrated experimental site for water and soil conservation has been placed, according to Li Min, who is in charge of the technology development of the model.