Migratory birds in the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, Shandong province, in November. ZHOU GUANGXUE/FOR CHINA DAILY

Shandong province recently launched a trail regulation to strengthen the standardized management of ecological water replenishment in the Yellow River basin to promote water ecological civilization.

According to the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, water from the Yellow River has been diverted to more regions to boost ecological protection.

The water diversion projects mainly focus on emergency water supplies for major wetlands and lakes along the river, as well as ecological restoration in northern Chinese regions with groundwater shortages, according to the commission.

Such projects aim to sustain all the ecosystems in the Yellow River basin, including mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, farmlands and grasslands, the commission said.

By placing water conservation, ecological protection, unified management and hierarchical responsibility as top priorities, Shandong has given priority to basic ecological water use to improve the ecological water environment in the Yellow River region of Shandong.

Shandong plans to divert water from the Yellow River to promote the steady improvement of the environmental quality of the coastal waters of the province, strengthen the ecological restoration of coastal saline-alkali land, help improve the utilization of saline-alkali land, and ensure national food security.