As spring comes, Liang Liping starts his daily routine of patrolling the dikes along the Yellow River, China's second-longest waterway. He has been doing this job for 38 years.

Liang's decades-long endeavor is a reflection of China's efforts in protecting the Yellow River basin.

Since ancient times, conservation of the Yellow River has always been high on the country's agenda.

On Saturday, a new law on the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin came into effect.

As China's second piece of legislation on a specific river basin after the Yangtze River Protection Law, the new law targets key problems of the Yellow River basin, including water shortages, ecological fragility and flooding.

Recalling the old days, Liang said lack of access to transport and communications once made his work quite hard.

Nowadays, convenient transportation and communications have facilitated Liang's work so that he can make feedback much faster.

In 2021, more than 400 cameras were installed along the Dalad section of the Yellow River to improve work efficiency.

But for Liang and his colleagues, these cameras can't replace in-person patrolling.

The Yellow River supplies water to 12 percent of China's population and irrigates 17 percent of the country's arable land.

Persevering in the protection of water resources, China has improved its water governance capacity by balancing economy and environment.