依据气候、地形、地貌、土壤、植被、地质等自然地理条件的基本一致性、水资源条件基本相似、水资源利用水平大体相当、农业自然条件和作物布局基本一致、经济发展水平大致相当和照顾行政界限、流域边界等固有分区等 6个基本原则 ,将黄河流域引黄灌区节水灌溉分为河源至兰州、兰州至河口、河口至龙门、龙门至花园口、花园口至河口等5个大区 ,并对各分区的基本特点和节水灌溉的发展方向和主要途径作了深入的分析.

The irrigation districts of the Huanghe River basin is divided into five different water saving irrigation regions according to regional physical and social features, such as, climatic, topographic, physiognomic, soil, vegetation, geologic, hydrologic, water resource and its utilities, agriculture, economic development etc.. The first region, consisting of the irrigation districts from the riverhead to Lanzhou City, is characterized with rich runoff and little cultivated lands. The irrigation in this region should pay an attention to the new irrigation techniques and small water transferring loss. The second region, covering the irrigation districts from Lanzhou City to He Kou Town, has a negative water balance owing to limited rainfall and highly developed irrigation system. Reconstructing the poor quality and long history irrigation engineering and ameliorating the low efficiency drainage system should be the key problems for the water saving irrigation development in this region. The third region, ranging from He Kou Town to Long Men, has a small amount of irrigation lands and a high silt content. The water saving irrigation planning in this region should be mixed together with the conservation of soil and water. The fourth region, including mainly Wenhe River and Feihe River basins, has the smallest irrigation duty and the highest water use efficiency among the irrigation districts of the Huanghe River Basin. The fifth region is one of the largest irrigation district groups in China and has more irrigation lands than any other regions in the Huanghe River Basin. The water saving irrigation in this region has a close relationship to the silt reducing measures and groundwater exploitation.