The renewability of water resources and its quantification in the Yellow River basin, China

Abstract

The drying-up events in the lower reaches of the Yellow River during the 1990s, which were the most serious problem of water resources issues in China, initiated this study of the concept of water resources renewability in the Yellow River basin. The problem of renewability linked with hydrological process impacted by climate change and human activity is addressed. A quantitative method was developed to analyse causes and propose countermeasures to improve renewability of water resources. The magnitude of renewability change in time and space within the river system can be represented using this method. According to the analysis using an observation data set, it is shown that the renewability of water resources of the Yellow Rive basin has had a significant declining trend since the 1950s.In particular, the renewability indicator in the downstream reaches was reduced to 0·2 during a bad situation during the 1990s. Using the renewability assessment, feasible strategies can be analysed and suggested. © 2004 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.