Water resources management strategies for development of a water-saving society in Golmu City, Qinghai Province, China

摘要

In this paper, the authors present a case study in Golmud City, Qinghai Province in China to demonstrate components of the integrated water conservation plan. Based on assessment of current water demands and supplies, water conservation potentials were estimated for agricultural application, industrial production, municipal and domestic uses and ecosystem needs. Current agricultural water diversion is 32,940 cubic meters per hectare, which is almost 4 times of the national average. Residential water use is approximately 1 cubic meter per capita per day. In addition, water allocation is not well regulated. A great potential for water conservation allows water stakeholders to achieve the goal of a water-saving society: using the currently available water to meet future demands for sustaining agricultural and industrial production, human consumption and healthy ecosystem. Several measures were recommended, including appropriate exploitation of water resources, and water conservation in agricultural, industrial, municipal and ecological sectors.