Water resources carrying capacity analysis and zoning management measures in China

With rapid population growth, industrial expansion, improved urbanization level and living standards, the water resources has been excessively utilized, which leads to a series of ecological problems such as rivers and lakes atrophy, land subsidence, and so on. It has directly threatens the high-quality development of China's economy and society and the virtuous cycle of the ecological environment. Water resources carrying capacity is not only an important condition to support regional sustainable development, but also the key to solve water resources problems. At present, the research on water resources carrying capacity has not formed a unified theoretical and technical system, and it still needs further research. At the same time, for China, water resources carrying capacity varies greatly in different regions, affected by water resources endowment conditions, industrial structure, economic and social development level and layout, and other factors. Zoning management is the foundation to strengthen the maximum rigid constraint of water resources, and is also the fundamental need to implement "spatial balance" and "four water and four determination" from the perspective of water resources. Therefore, it is of great significance to implement accurate zoning management of water resources based on the evaluation results of water resources carrying capacity.Based on the existing research, the carrying capacity of water resources in China was analyzed from three aspects of groundwater, surface water and total water consumption. The carrying capacity of surface water was evaluated. The carrying capacity of groundwater was evaluated. The carrying capacity of total water consumption was evaluated. The worst evaluation result of surface water, groundwater and total water consumption was taken as the comprehensive evaluation result of water resources carrying capacity. The zoning management countermeasures for different areas were also put forward.The results are as follows :(1) water resource overload zone and critical overload zone involve 53% of the national land area, nearly 60% of the population and GDP, and only 28% of the national water resource. (2) For surface water, there are 77 overloading units, which are mainly distributed in Haihe River, Liaohe River, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, middle reaches of the Huaihe River system and partial reaches of the northwest inland river. For groundwater, there are 100 overloading units, and the overexploited groundwater is mainly used for agricultural irrigation and urban development. (3) Important urban agglomerations, economic zones and energy bases are almost all distributed in areas with water resource overload or critical overload; 14 of the 17 grain production bases are in areas of water overload and critical overload. (4) Based on the evaluation results of water resources carrying capacity, the watershed regions in China were divided into three types: overloading area, critical area and non-overloading area. And the zoning management measures of "water replenishment" in the overloading area, "water control" in the critical overloading area and "water conservation" in the non-overloading area were proposed.The comprehensive evaluation results showed that among the 410 evaluation units of cities in China, there are 129 overloading units, 81 critical overloading units and 200 units not overloading. By 2035, the scope of water overloading and critical overloading zones will be further expanded under the condition that adequate water saving is considered but no new water supply is added. The reasons for overloading was the lack of water resources endowment, and the relatively heavy burden of economic and social development. In China, the distribution of water resources did match the development of economic and social, especially in population, economy, energy, food. The research results can not only reveal the spatial distribution characteristics of water resources carrying status in China, but also provide some reference value for strengthening the precise control of water resources zoning.

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