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How a vast digital twin of the Yangtze River could prevent flooding in China

A project that intertwines data on weather, water flow and energy demand to create a 3D model of the whole river basin would enable researchers and others to make water-management decisions in real time.
By
  1. Xiaopeng Wang

    1. Xiaopeng Wang is at the China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.

  2. Biqiong Wu

    1. Biqiong Wu is at the Hubei Key Laboratory of Intelligent Yangtze and Hydroelectric Science, China Yangtze Power Company, Yichang, China.

  3. Guoliang Zhou

    1. Guoliang Zhou is at the China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.

  4. Tao Wang

    1. Tao Wang is at the Hubei Key Laboratory of Intelligent Yangtze and Hydroelectric Science, China Yangtze Power Company, Yichang, China.

  5. Fanwei Meng

    1. Fanwei Meng is at the School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China.

  6. Li Zhou

    1. Li Zhou is at the Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

  7. Hui Cao

    1. Hui Cao is at the Hubei Key Laboratory of Intelligent Yangtze and Hydroelectric Science, China Yangtze Power Company, Yichang, China.

  8. Zhengyang Tang

    1. Zhengyang Tang is at the Hubei Technology Innovation Center for Smart Hydropower, China Yangtze Power Company, Yichang, China.

An aerial view of the first bay of the Yangtze River, where the river bends and flows around mountains.

The Yangtze River basin in China is managed through more than 52,000 reservoirs. Credit: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty

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China’s Yangtze River is the longest in Eurasia and the third-longest on the planet, flowing more than 6,000 kilometres from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea. Its basin covers almost one-fifth of China’s land area and is home to hundreds of millions of people. More than 52,000 reservoirs have been built on the Yangtze and its tributaries since the 1950s to mitigate flooding, generate hydropower, stabilize water supplies and protect ecology.

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Nature 639, 303-305 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00720-0

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Chinese government or the CWJ.

References

  1. Wei, K. et al. Innovation 1, 100038 (2020).

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  2. Michalak, A. M. et al. Nature Water 1, 10–18 (2023).

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  3. Xia, J. et al. Geosci. Lett. 8, 18 (2021).

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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