scholarly journals Groundwater storage changes and estimation of stream lateral seepage to groundwater in desert riparian forest region

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 861-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiyang Xi ◽  
Qi Feng ◽  
Lu Zhang ◽  
Jianhua Si ◽  
Tengfei Yu
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Riparian Forest ◽  
Groundwater Depth ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Groundwater Storage ◽  
Inland River ◽  
East River ◽  
Forest Region ◽  
Water Conveyance

Abstract Field experiments were conducted in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin in the northwest of China to determine relationships between stream and groundwater and to quantify stream lateral seepage. The water table fluctuation, water balance and statistical analysis methods were used to analyze long-term experimental data. Results showed that the groundwater depth along the experimental section responded strongly to the streamflow of the East River in the basin. The streamflow of the East River in all periods significantly influenced the amplitude of groundwater depth within the range of 300 m from the riverbank; the stream lateral seepage was mainly controlled by the streamflow and its durations. The evapotranspiration of riparian forest had used larger proportions of groundwater storage in summer, close to approximating 60%. This study quantified stream lateral seepage to groundwater for different water conveyance and provides support for regional water resources management in an arid inland river basin.

scholarly journals Estimating Dynamics of Terminal Lakes in the Second Largest Endorheic River Basin of Northwestern China from 2000 to 2017 with Landsat Imagery

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1164
Author(s):  
Bei Li ◽  
Yi-Chi Zhang ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Chao-Yang Du ◽  
Jing-Jie Yu
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Water Diversion ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Landsat Images ◽  
East River ◽  
Terminal Lakes

Quantifying terminal-lake dynamics is crucial for understanding water-ecosystem-economy relationship across endorheic river basins in arid environments. In this study, the spatio-temporal variations in terminal lakes of the lower Heihe River Basin were investigated for the first time since the Ecological Water Diversion Project commenced in 2000. The lake area and corresponding water consumption were determined with 248 Landsat images. Vital recovery of lakes occurred two years after the implementation of the project, and the total lake area increased by 382.6%, from 30.7 to 148.2 km2, during 2002–2017. East Juyan Lake (EJL) was first restored as a project target and subsequently reached a maximum area of 70.1 km2. Water dispersion was initiated in 2003, with the East river prioritized for restoration. Swan Lake in the East river enlarged to 67.7 km2 by 2017, while the other four lakes temporarily existed or maintained an area < 7 km2, such as West Juyan Lake. Water consumed by lakes increased synchronously with lake area. The average water consumption of the six lakes was 1.03 × 108 m3/year, with 63% from EJL. The increasing terminal lakes; however, highlight the seasonal competition for water use between riparian vegetation and lake ecosystems in water-limited areas.

scholarly journals Assessment of spatial and temporal patterns of green and blue water flows under natural conditions in inland river basins in Northwest China

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 2859-2870 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. F. Zang ◽  
J. Liu ◽  
M. van der Velde ◽  
F. Kraxner
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Heihe River Basin ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Inland River ◽  
Green And Blue Water

Abstract. In arid and semi-arid regions freshwater resources have become scarcer with increasing demands from socio-economic development and population growth. Until recently, water research and management has mainly focused on blue water but ignored green water. Furthermore, in data poor regions hydrological flows under natural conditions are poorly characterised but are a prerequisite to inform future water resources management. Here we report on spatial and temporal patterns of both blue and green water flows that can be expected under natural conditions as simulated by the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the Heihe river basin, the second largest inland river basin in Northwest China. Calibration and validation at two hydrological stations show good performance of the SWAT model in modelling hydrological processes. The total green and blue water flows were 22.05–25.51 billion m3 in the 2000s for the Heihe river basin. Blue water flows are larger in upstream sub-basins than in downstream sub-basins mainly due to high precipitation and a large amount of snow and melting water in upstream. Green water flows are distributed more homogeneously among different sub-basins. The green water coefficient was 87%–89% in the 2000s for the entire river basin, varying from around 80%–90% in up- and mid-stream sub-basins to above 90% in downstream sub-basins. This is much higher than reported green water coefficients in many other river basins. The spatial patterns of green water coefficients were closely linked to dominant land covers (e.g. snow cover upstream and desert downstream) and climate conditions (e.g. high precipitation upstream and low precipitation downstream). There are no clear consistent historical trends of change in green and blue water flows and the green water coefficient at both the river basin and sub-basin levels. This study provides insights into green and blue water endowments under natural conditions for the entire Heihe river basin at the sub-basin level. The results are helpful to benchmark the natural flows of water in the basin as part of improved water resources management in the inland river basins of China.

scholarly journals The temporal–spatial assessment of water scarcity with the Water Poverty Index: a study in the middle basin of the Heihe River, northwest China

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1266-1276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Tang ◽  
Qi Feng
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Poverty Index ◽  
Inland River ◽  
Water Poverty Index ◽  
Reasonable Approach

This paper details an application of the Water Poverty Index (WPI) to evaluate the state of water resources in an inland river basin using a case study of the Heihe River Basin (HRB) located in northwest China. The WPI includes five components (resources, access, capacity, use, and environment) and has 13 indicators; each indicator is assigned an equal weighting. The selected set of components and indicators was used to discuss the spatial and temporal variation of the water scarcity situation in the middle of the HRB for a 10-year assessment period. The results show that the water scarcity situation of the HRB is generally evolving in a positive way from 2001 to 2010. However, the WPI varied widely (from 24.6 to 66.5) at a spatial scale. The water situation was best maintained in Jiayuguan City, and it was most severe in Jiuquan City. These variations suggest that different cities require different policy intervention to improve the overall water situation. Overall, the WPI appears to be a reasonable approach to examine the water scarcity situation and help decision makers to better devise local policy.

Variability in groundwater depth and composition and their impacts on vegetation succession in the lower Heihe River Basin, north-western China

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 206 ◽  
Author(s):  
JunTao Zhu ◽  
JingJie Yu ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Qiang Yu ◽  
Derek Eamus
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Vegetation Succession ◽  
Heihe River Basin ◽  
Groundwater Depth ◽  
Western China ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Lower Heihe River ◽  
North Western

Plant-community structure and groundwater attributes were investigated in Ejina Delta in north-western China to understand spatial variability of groundwater depth and composition and their impacts on vegetation succession. Geostatistical methods and ordination analysis were performed to analyse the data. In addition, we tried to obtain vegetation successional series by using an approach of spatial sequences instead of temporal sequences. The findings of the present study were as follows: (1) the coefficient of variation for groundwater depth (GWD), salinity (SAL), total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, SO42–, HCO3–, NO3–, Cl– and F– ranged from 0.04 to 1.53; (2) GWD, Mg2+, TDS, EC, Ca2+, HCO3–, NO3– and pH showed strong spatial autocorrelation, whereas K+ and SAL showed moderate spatial autocorrelation; (3) canonical correspondence analysis revealed that groundwater heterogeneity, especially GWD, followed by pH, SAL, TDS, EC and HCO3–, had an important impact on vegetation succession, and thus showed a prevalence of groundwater attributes-based niche differentiation among plant communities; and (4) there were two vegetation successional processes (drought and salinisation) in the lower Heihe River Basin, and salinisation processes increased with drought processes. Our results indicated that high spatial variability of groundwater attributes contributes to promoting maintenance of species and landscape diversity in the lower Heihe River Basin.

scholarly journals Integrated study of the water–ecosystem–economy in the Heihe River Basin

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guodong Cheng ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Wenzhi Zhao ◽  
Zhongmin Xu ◽  
Qi Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
River Basins ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
Heihe River Basin ◽  
Water Diversion ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Inland River ◽  
Water Ecosystem ◽  
The Heihe River Basin

AbstractThe ecological water diversion project in the Heihe River Basin is the first successful case in China in which the ecological systems in a river basin have been rescued. This project serves as a valuable example for the management of ecosystems in other inland river basins. This paper reviews the integrated studies of the water–ecosystem–economy relationship in the Heihe River Basin and concludes that sustainable development in inland river basins requires the basin to be considered as a whole, with the relationships between the upstream, midstream and downstream areas of the basin coordinated appropriately. Successful development in these basins will be reflected in an improved output per cubic meter of water and the implementation of integrated river basin management practices.

scholarly journals Transaction Costs, Modes, and Scales from Agricultural to Industrial Water Rights Trading in an Inland River Basin, Northwest China

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohong Deng ◽  
Xiaoyu Song ◽  
Zhongmin Xu
Keyword(s):  
Transaction Costs ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Industrial Structure ◽  
High Water ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Small Water ◽  
Inland River ◽  
Water Trading

Water transactions from agriculture to industry have become an important means to address water scarcity and improve water economic efficiency. Transaction costs (TCs) are one of the main factors preventing water markets from forming or efficiently operating. To evaluate the level of transactions costs, we set the appropriate transaction modes for cross-sector lever water trading and evaluated the TCs from agriculture to industry in the Heihe River Basin (HRB), an inland basin in northwest China. We found that the ranges of transaction costs per m3 of water ranged from 0.06 to 1.10 yuan, and the ratios of TCs to transaction prices ranged from 4.11% to 244.44%. The transaction scale should be more than 15,267 m3 or 29,888 m3 when the TC is at the lower or upper limit in the study area. When the transaction scales are set correctly, the range of the transaction costs will be in an acceptable range, and the proportion of TCs to transaction price will not exceed the 8% limit of the California Water Bank, which was employed as a comparison. The key restrictive factor of water trading in HRB may be the low transaction scale, followed by the high water TCs. The effects of improving water use efficiency in cross-sector trading could not neutralize the restrictions caused by the negative effects of small water demand transaction scales for undeveloped secondary industries in HRB. However, considering the industrial structure and development trends of the regional economy, the future driving force of water transactions across sectors likely lies in tertiary industries in HRB.

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