黄河下游的堤防是按照小浪底建库前千年洪水设防水位，加超高2.5 m或3 m设计，堤后淤背宽度百米，小浪底水库投入运用后下游宽河道段河槽下切2 米多，下游窄河段下切1 米多；在洪水不断减小的新形势下，防洪形势发生根本性变化，今后不存在大堤决口的可能。其合理的治理目标是，在中游完善以小浪底水库为中心的调水调沙体系，使更多泥沙由洪水输送；在下游进行双向河槽整治，稳定河槽，形成高效排洪输沙通道；控制河床不发生过渡冲刷，保证两岸引水，使洪水不漫滩；彻底解放黄河下游滩区和防洪中横河斜河等诸多问题，使黄河彻底由害河变为利河。

The levee system of the lower Yellow River was designed based on 1000- year flood elevation prior to the construction of Xiaolangdi Reservoir，and it was super-elevated by 2.5 to 3 m for safety reason. The embankment behind the levee due to deposition was measured to be 100 m wide. After the operation of Xiaolangdi reservoir，the channel of the wide reach was scoured around 2 m，and for the narrow reach the scoured depth was more than 1 m. Under the new condition which the flood has been reduced continuously，fundamental changes have taken placed for the flood protection situation，and there is no possibility of levee breaching in the future. The reasonable control measures for the lower Yellow River were discussed in the paper. In the middle reach，improve the flood and sediment regulation system centered on Xiaolangdi Reservoir，and manage to transport more sediment by flood. In the lower reach，carry out two banks training to stabilize the main channel，form an efficient flood discharge and sediment transport corridor，control the scour to avoid over-eroding of river bed to ensure the water diversion and non-overtopping of the flood. By using this approach，the floodplain can be reasonably utilized，and many issues like river flowing transversely and diagonally can be fully resolved. The lower Yellow River will have more beneficials uses instead of posing more hazards.