Evaluation of water resources carrying capacity of major industries in northwest of China: A case study of textile industry in Aksu, Xinjiang Province, China

Abstract

With the implementation of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, the north-western region of China is welcoming a new development opportunity. Textile industry is a vital industry for people's livelihood in Xinjiang, which plays an important role in promoting the development of related industries, stimulating the growth of domestic demand, increasing the capacity and level of employment, and promoting social harmony. However, the spatial and temporal distribution of water resources in Xinjiang is extremely uneven, the contradiction between water resources shortage with economic and social development is increasingly prominent. This paper aims to figure out the pressure degree on water resources with the development of textile industry, propose the countermeasures of water saving and pollution reduction in textile industry, by using the osculating value method model to evaluate the water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) of Aksu's textile industry. Results indicates that the water resources carrying capacity in the study area was overload in 2015, the water consumption of textile industry and the agricultural irrigation were the dominant factors caused a situation of an overloaded water resources carrying capacity. Beside government issues policies to limit water resources consumption and sewage permit system, the optimal measure for reversing this situation is to adopt advanced technologies in water conservation and pollution control in textile industry and new water-saving technology of agriculture irrigation.