Impacts of climate change and irrigation on lakes in arid northwest China

Abstract

Lakes provide valuable water resources for people, life, and socioeconomic development in Northwestern China—a core region of the arid Central Asia where water is seriously deficient. In this study, we report the first investigation of the 30-year changes in all lakes larger than 1 km2 in Northwestern China and the associated driving forces. We found that the number of lakes increased from 121 to 135, and the total lake area increased from 5495 km2 to 6445 km2 in this region. However, increases in lake area occurred mainly in the less populated mountainous areas caused by glacier melting and increase in precipitation. Conversely, lakes in the densely populated regions decreased by 40% since the year of 2000, which was significantly related to the increasing intensity of irrigation. These results not only suggest an ongoing water crisis in Northwest China but also reflect the lake dynamics in arid Central Asia where climate changes and irrigation are occurring prevalently with high intensity. Given the fact that the benefits of glacier melt in Central Asia can be substantially offset by intensive irrigation, we thus call an urgent need for a policy of sustainable water management in this critical region.