3. Wetland and Flooding in the Amur River Basin

The Sanjiang Plain has been cultivated by the Chinese government since the 1950s. Change in its land cover has caused serious flooding. By contrast, the Kiya River Basin in Russia, on the opposite side of the Sanjiang Plain, has not experienced a change in land cover. In this study, a geomorphological map was made, and land cover change on the Sanjiang Plain is clarified using Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and Japanese Earth Resources Satellite 1 Synthetic Aperture Radar data. The wetland condition for the Kiya River Basin is also examined. Finally, human impacts on the Sanjiang Plain are analyzed. Land in the study area was significantly cultivated; one-third of the alluvial plain was cultivated from 1992 to 1996. The Kiya River Basin is always submerged and rarely suffers major floods. The history of land cover change corresponds to the time series of annual minimum discharge. The water holding capacity has been lost and floods occur more frequently because the wetland has disappeared.