The reasons for causing sediment stagnation in the northern reaches of the Yellow river have been analyzed.It is considered that the severe soil and water losses in the tributaries are the main reason for the sediment stagnation and the reduced volume of water flow from the upper reaches of the Yellow river made the sediment stagnation more serious in trunk stream of the Yellow river in the Inner Mongolia Autonomo us Region.The fatal impacts of the sediment stagnation on the national economy and social sustainable development are also described.Some countermeasures to harness a watershed with more sediment yield were presented by the analytical comparison between the harnessed watershed and the not harnessed one.These measures include:(1)turning passive prevention to active control of soil and water losses;(2) gathering the attention from all levels of the society to harness watersheds according to the market economy rule;(3) developing waterand sediment resources and changing side-effects to usefulness by means of the comprehensive and systematic measures;(4) regulating and controlling water and sediment status in view of the total reaches of the Yellow river.