General situation of Shaxi River

Shaxi is the mainstream of Minjiang River, which originates from Jiuxian Mountain at the southern foot of Shanshan Mountain in Wuyi Mountain and belongs to Junkou Township in Jianning County. The source is Shuiqianxi, which flows through Yutan to Ninghua and is called Dongxi. It flows into Wuyi River downstream of Ninghua County and is called Jiulong River, and flows eastward to Qingliu. The Hekou in Ninghua is also called Cuijiang below. A section of Qingliu territory is also called Longjin River. Ten kilometers from Jiulong Stream to the western suburb of Yong 'an, Wenchuan Stream flows into it. The two streams are like swallowtails. After the confluence, the river section is like a swallow, and the eastern suburb of Yong 'an is like a swallow's head. Therefore, this 5-kilometer stream is also called Yanjiang. Yong 'an to Shaxikou is called Shaxi, which flows through six counties and cities such as Ninghua, Qingliu, Mingxi, Yong 'an, Sanming and Shaxian, and then joins Futunxi at Shaxikou and flows into Minjiang River. Shaxikou Hydropower Station is built here.

Shaxi is 328km long, with a catchment area of 11,793km2, accounting for 19.33% of the total area of Minjiang River Basin. There is no phenomenon of river trunk, cut-off and ice freezing all year round. The rainfall period is concentrated from April to August, the water level rises and falls sharply, the flood peak duration is short, and the dry season is long (from September to March). From 1955 to 1984, the highest water level of Shiqiao Hydrological Station in Shaxian County was 112.95 meters above the zero base of Luoxing Tower, the lowest water level was 13.7 meters, and the average water level was 14.58 meters. Shaxi Waterway, the riverbed is mostly a valley basin and a meandering valley, and the riverbed is made of rocks and pebbles. The river is wide and narrow, and the water depth is different. Many river sections are connected by rock plates, with numerous reefs and rapids, and the water flow is turbulent. The river sections with many pebbles shoals are long, and the water depth is generally only .3 ~ .8 meters. The navigation mileage of Shaxi River is 324.4 kilometers from Hekou in Ninghua County to Nanping. In 1965, a water conservancy dam was built above Hengsuo in Ninghua County, which made the 4-kilometer river section navigable. Now the navigation mileage from Hengsuo to Nanping is 276.2 kilometers.