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This study considers the framework of the change process for water management in the Hetao Irrigation District (HID) of the Yellow River Basin. This paper presents the main measures that have been applied to ensure the sustainability and modernization of Hetao, mitigating water scarcity while maintaining land productivity and environmental value. Several components of modernization projects that have already been implemented are characterized, such as the off-farm canal distribution system, the on-farm surface irrigation, innovative crop and soil management techniques, drainage, and salinity control, including the management of autumn irrigation and advances of drip irrigation at the sector and farm levels. This characterization includes technologies, farmer training, labor needs, energy consumption, water savings, and economic aspects, based on data observed and reported in official reports. Therefore, this study integrates knowledge and analyzes the most limiting aspects in some case studies, evaluating the effectiveness of the solutions used.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/agronomy15071654","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,8]],"date-time":"2025-07-08T07:31:57Z","timestamp":1751959917000},"page":"1654","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Water Saving and Environmental Issues in the Hetao Irrigation District, the Yellow River Basin: Development Perspective Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-3624-038X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhuangzhuang","family":"Feng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2584-6833","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qingfeng","family":"Miao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China"}]},{"given":"Haibin","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8646-7880","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9 Manuel","family":"Gon\u00e7alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Agriculture School, CERNAS\u2014Research Center for Natural Resources, Environment and Society, Bencanta, 3045-601 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2301-5822","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ruiping","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"98","article-title":"Comparison of water resources management between China and the United States","volume":"1","author":"He","year":"2020","journal-title":"Geogr. 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