Yunhe River

Overview

The Yunhe River is a tributary of the Shijiu Lake system and a branch of the Xinqiao River (environmental impact report of the Dongping Subdistrict 2019 improvement works for water bodies not meeting the standard, January 2020). The district government's geographical position page lists the Yunhe River among the main inflow rivers of the Shijiu Lake system, alongside the Xinqiao River and the reach above Tiansheng Bridge Sluice, and gives its full length as 11.99 km.

Ends and direction: the Dongping Subdistrict Office environmental report records that it "is a branch of the Xinqiao River, 11.99 km in all; its direction is north-west, flowing from Zheshantou Reservoir through Yunhe and Kongzhen until it enters the Xinqiao River at Shagang Village". The source, Zheshantou Reservoir, is a medium-sized reservoir under district management, in Jingqiao Town (Nanjing Municipal Water Resources Bureau, March 2022).

Two official figures for the length of 11.99 km, and they agree: the district government's geographical position page and the Water Plan of Lishui County for the Eleventh Five-Year period (Lu Zheng Fa [2005] No. 76). The Eleventh Five-Year water plan also gives the Yunhe River a catchment of 103.17 sq km.

Cross-section hydrology: according to the Dongping Subdistrict Office environmental report of January 2020, the Shagang Bridge cross-section has a maximum flood-season discharge of 110 cubic metres per second and a highest water level of 12.43 m, with a channel width of 10 m and a narrowest width of 4 m.

The towns are Jingqiao and Hefeng: the environmental report records that the Yunhe River "flows from Zheshantou Reservoir through Yunhe and Kongzhen", and the source, Zheshantou Reservoir, is in Jingqiao Town (Nanjing Municipal Water Resources Bureau, March 2022); "Kongzhen" is the former Kongzhen administrative unit, now part of Hefeng Town (Hefeng Town has a Kongzhen residents' committee); "Yunhe" is a former place name in the Yunhe area, and the district government's administrative divisions page records that Jingqiao Town has a Yunheshan Village.

Formation and change

The Yunhe River is one of the district's seven main watercourses (Measures for the Management and Protection of Water Conservancy Works in Lishui District, Lu Zheng Gui [2022] No. 2).

Management scope: Article 5(1) of the measures lists the Yunhe River alongside the Lishui, Yigan, Tianshengqiao, Ergan and Sangan rivers and the Xinqiao River including the Baima River; its management scope is 20 m beyond the toe of the landward slope of the embankment, and 12 m beyond the channel line where there is no embankment.

Channel improvement: the district government's ten main tasks and hundred key work items for 2023 include "carrying out the comprehensive improvement of the Yunhe River" (Lu Zheng Ban Fa [2023] No. 3, item 82-17, an annual task target; no acceptance or annual summary source has been found, so this site does not write that it has been completed). The Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources records that "after the implementation of the improvement works on the Xinqiao River, including the lower reach of the Yunhe River, the capacity for flood defence and drainage was raised, directly protecting a population of 50,000 and 76,000 mu of farmland", the benefiting area being Jingqiao and Hefeng (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources, 15 May 2024). Neither source states whether the "comprehensive improvement of the Yunhe River" and the "improvement works on the Xinqiao River, including the lower reach of the Yunhe River" are the same works, and this site does not merge them.

State of the embankments: the 14th Five-Year Water Development Plan of Lishui District, Nanjing, lists "embankments on reaches such as the Yunhe River not yet meeting the standard" as an existing problem (Lu Zheng Ban Fa [2021] No. 87, drawn up in 2021, reflecting conditions around 2020).

No first-tier source has been found for when the Yunhe River was cut or for its final alignment, so nothing is written here.

Landscape and visiting

Ecological corridor: the pre-approval public notice of the Territorial Spatial Ecological Protection and Restoration Plan of Lishui District (2021-2035) lists the Yunhe River among the waterway corridors of its multiple-corridor pattern (pre-approval notice, July 2026, not an instrument in force).

Fishing-ban waters: Lu Zheng Fa [2020] No. 75 lists the Yunhe River among the rivers connected with Shijiu Lake where fishing is banned all year; during the ban, productive fishing and recreational angling are wholly prohibited, the term provisionally set at ten years.

Water quality cross-section: the Yunhe River is not named in the lists of cross-sections assessed by the state, the province or the municipality under the Lishui Ecological Environment Bureau, so this site does not write of a water quality cross-section for it.

No first-tier source has been found for footpaths, waterside platforms, viewing facilities or opening information along the Yunhe River, so no visiting detail is given; readers who need it should go to the official notices of the district water department, the district culture and tourism department and the local towns. Information is current to September 2026.

Open questions

• The length of 11.99 km is given in two agreeing sources (district government geographical position page; Water Plan of Lishui County for the Eleventh Five-Year period, Lu Zheng Fa [2005] No. 76). The media figure of "a total main channel length of 12.44 km" has no official document behind it; this site treats it as a lead only, not as a basis.
• The catchment of 103.17 sq km has been found in the Eleventh Five-Year water plan (drawn up in 2005) only, with no equivalent figure from a water department; it is cited with its source and year.
• The present-day town of "Yunhe" is not named by any source: the environmental report records that the river flows "through Yunhe and Kongzhen", and that "Kongzhen" is now part of Hefeng Town can be established, but the present-day town of "Yunhe" is not stated. This site, relying on the district government's administrative divisions page, which records a Yunheshan Village under Jingqiao Town, and on the source reservoir Zheshantou being in Jingqiao Town, places Jingqiao Town among the towns; a second source is awaited.
• Variant spellings: "Yunhe tributary" and "Yunhe River tributary" are the forms in the Shiqiu Subdistrict environmental report, referring to the same watercourse as the district government's "Yunhe River"; this entry uses "Yunhe River" throughout.
• "A branch of the Xinqiao River" is the wording of the Dongping Subdistrict Office environmental report, and it stands alongside the wording of the Measures for the Management and Protection of Water Conservancy Works in Lishui District, which lists the Yunhe River alongside the Lishui River and others; both are quoted as they stand, with no choice made between them.
• Media accounts say the Yunhe River receives water from Zheshantou Reservoir and the Xiantan, Yunheshan, Shanligou and Caozhuang reservoirs; that account has no official document behind it and is a lead only. Article 25 of the Measures for the Management and Protection of Water Conservancy Works in Lishui District does list Xiantan Reservoir, Yunheshan Reservoir, Shanligou Reservoir and Caozhuang Reservoir, but that instrument does not state their upstream-downstream relation to the Yunhe River.
• Whether the "comprehensive improvement of the Yunhe River" (Lu Zheng Ban Fa [2023] No. 3) and the "improvement works on the Xinqiao River, including the lower reach of the Yunhe River" (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources, 15 May 2024) are the same works is stated by neither source, and they are not to be merged.
• The benefit figures "directly protecting a population of 50,000 and 76,000 mu of farmland" are the benefit recorded for the improvement works on the Xinqiao River, including the lower reach of the Yunhe River, not the total population and farmland of the Yunhe River basin.
• The cross-section hydrological values (Shagang Bridge) carry no year and are cited as "according to the environmental report of January 2020".