HOHHOT, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- From a control room in Ordos, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Fu Laichen remotely commands a fleet of patrol drones, which monitor several Yellow River tributaries as they fly over the rugged terrain of the Kubuqi Desert.
The combined watershed of the 10 tributaries spans 10,800 square kilometers, a major source of sediment for the Yellow River, known as China's "Mother River."
As Fu checked readings on the screens, drones were flying about 100 kilometers away, streaming live aerial footage of the tributaries' flow to the control room.
Fu said the system can capture and retain footage of unauthorized activities, such as sand mining, and reveal flood-blocking problems along these rivers.
In steep valleys and wide sandfields where human patrols had long struggled and found it difficult to reach, drones offer greater effectiveness and safer options.
"A full day of hiking may not cover a whole river valley," Fu said. "Drones can fly fast, while pinpointing suspected locations accurately, and sending photos and videos in real time."
Since 2023, Ordos has built 13 outdoor drone hangars and a smart platform that links drones to an automated patrol network.
Fan Hongbo, deputy director of Ordos's river and lake protection center, said drones have logged 107.33 flight hours and traveled 4,483.26 kilometers in serving the city's river stewardship patrol endeavors.
Fu, 28, has worked in the control center for more than two years. He said the new patrol model enables staff to remotely command drone operations and monitor rivers.
"We launch drones when weather permits and watch for signal failures," Fu said. "We can pre-set or make timely adjustments to drone flight routes for targeted inspections."
He said drone patrols ramp up between June and September, the river's flood season. Drones crisscross gullies to detect flood risks, and the center promptly shares updates with relevant authorities.
Through aerial imagery, Fu also witnesses steady ecological improvements across the watershed, alongside cleaner river water.
The Yellow River runs 843.5 kilometers through Inner Mongolia. This stretch accounts for roughly 15.4 percent of its total length and is its longest winding segment across the river's nine provincial-level riparian regions. In Inner Mongolia, the river draws sediment from some of China's most heavily concentrated desertified lands.
Thanks to sustained conservation efforts, the Yellow River, China's second-longest river, once prone to devastating floods, heavy sedimentation and shifting channels, now has cleaner waters and more sustainable water use.
Shi Huidong, head of the river and lake management office in Dalad Banner, said the integrated monitoring system pairing video cameras and AI algorithms has sharpened river stewardship capabilities.
In addition to drones, more than 500 camera sites now cover the Yellow River tributaries.
"AI analyzes footage around the clock. It automatically flags encroachment and sends tasks to field teams," Shi said, adding that rain radar delivers rainfall forecasts three hours in advance, thus strengthening flood safety measures across the watershed.
Yang Jianlong from the forestry and grassland bureau in the banner, said the system also serves as a powerful technical backbone for local restoration, with the data helping officials to design targeted measures and deliver tangible environmental improvements.
Thanks to decades of ecological efforts, the average annual sediment flowing into the Yellow River from these tributaries in Ordos has dropped significantly from 27 million tonnes to 4 million tonnes. ■
