Yellow River Basin Water Accounting

摘要

Water accounting is a fundamental tool in river basin management and planning. Water accounting systems, however, are not universally consistent, complicating efforts to share information and research findings across nations. China, for example, utilizes a unique system that is not well understood by outside scientists. As China continues to emerge onto the global water management scene, it is becoming increasingly important for international researchers to understand Chinese water accounting frameworks and concepts. This paper uses data, largely provided by the Yellow River Conservancy Commission, to describe China's water accounting system and examine water balances in the Yellow River, one of China's most important water bodies. The paper shows that the primary difference between water accounting methodologies in the Yellow River basin and those familiar to most international researchers is related to supply accounting in general and groundwater accounting in particular. Although not currently included in its water accounting system, Chinese concepts of environmental water use, when included, will also differ substantially from those familiar to outside researchers. In terms of actual Yellow River balances, the paper highlights what could be a declining trend in both rainfall and runoff, which may require changes in current planning assumptions concerning average flow. In addition to declining supply, growing industrial and domestic demand are increasing pressure to reduce the use of water in agriculture, the basin's largest water consuming sector. As an initial guide for assessing possible agricultural policy responses, the paper provides estimates, for the first time, of Yellow River basin agricultural water productivity. Finally, the paper highlights the massive challenge managers in the Yellow River, as in other basins around the world, are facing as they seek to balance human water demand with increasingly understood ecological needs.