Water Resources Management in the Yellow River Basin

摘要

The Yellow River Basin is the largest river in north west and north China, covering 753 thousand km2 and accounting for 8% of the area of China. The annual precipitation ranges from 200mm to 800mm. The basin is characterized by arid and semi-arid climate, the Loess Plateau, and industrially developing and highly cultivated area. This basin has been suffering from water shortage. Appropriate allocation of water resources would bring better ecosystem, higher sustainability, and more vivid economy with wise water use, efficient water reuse, and discharge of wastewater after appropriate treatment. Allocation of water resources to the sectors; agriculture, industry, daily lives, and ecosystem, is a matter of policy and economy. In order to get more appropriate allocation, the evaluation of scenarios considered with conditions on food production, economy and employment is inevitable. In this study, several scenarios on development are discussed under water supply and social constraints with an integrated water quantity and quality model newly developed. It was found that there are several measures for further development, such as water saving irrigation, water reuse in industry, and wise use in daily life and excess water by appropriate water use is available for enlargement of irrigated farmlands.