## 1 Introduction  
The energy endowment pattern of \"lack of oil, less gas, and relatively rich coal\" determines the ballast status of coal resources in China's energy security [1, 2]. In 2022, China's total raw coal production will reach 4.56 billion tons, an increase of 9% [3]. Driven by China's \"dual-carbon goal\" strategy, the energy status of coal resources has gradually changed from the main energy source to the main energy source [4], and the shift of coal production centers to the west is becoming more and more obvious. The Yellow River Basin, especially the middle reaches, has become an important continuation of the westward shift of China's coal production center strategy due to its rich coal resources and superior mining conditions. At present, 9 of the 14 large coal bases planned and constructed in China are distributed in the Yellow River Basin, of which 6 are densely distributed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River [5]. By 2022, coal production in the Yellow River Basin will have reached 3.59 billion tons [6], accounting for 78.7% of the total coal production in the country. Among them, coal production in the middle reaches of the Yellow River has exceeded 1.77 billion tons, accounting for about 40% of the total coal production in the country [7]. However, the ecological environment in the middle reaches of the Yellow River is fragile, soil erosion is serious, and water resources are scarce [8]. The coal mining area in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, represented by the Yushenfu mining area, is also characterized by the coal-water spatial relationship of \"upper and lower water coal\" [9] and the ecological response characteristics of \"underground shallow aquifer supporting the surface ecosystem\" [10]. Coal mining often causes serious damage to groundwater resources and further deteriorates the regional ecological environment. According to the latest survey data [11; 12], after large-scale mining in the Yushenfu mining area, the shallow groundwater level in the whole area decreased by 5-20 m, the number of springs decreased by 84%, and the flow of springs decreased by 70% compared with that before mining. The resulting surface river cutoff, vegetation degradation, soil desertification, and other phenomena are common. In October 2021, the \"Outline of the Yellow River Basin Ecological Protection and High-quality Development Plan\" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council clearly requires that the whole Yellow River Basin should unswervingly implement the \"four principles\" of determining the city by water, determining the land by water, determining the people by water, and determining the production by water. The middle reaches of the Yellow River highlight the work of soil and water conservation and water resource protection [13]. Therefore, the contradiction between the large-scale mining of coal resources in the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the protection of water resources has become more acute under the constraints of national strategies. Scientific understanding of the development law, degree, and main influencing factors of water-flowing fracture in overlying strata is the key to solving the sharp contradiction between coal resource exploitation and groundwater resource protection in the Yushenfu mining area. It has attracted the attention of relevant scholars at home and abroad and has achieved a number of valuable results. Because mining activities are the direct cause of the development of water-flowing fractures in the overlying strata of coal seams, the influence of mining factors on the development of water-flowing fractures in overlying strata of coal seams is first concerned. The relevant research results mainly focus on mining height, working face geometry, mining methods, and roof management methods.