TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of ecological water scarcity in China
AU - Liu, Kewei
AU - Cao, Wenfang
AU - Zhao, Dandan
AU - Liu, Shuman
AU - Liu, Junguo
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20100104), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (KCXFZ20201221173601003), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41625001). This study is also partly supported by the Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Hydrosphere and Watershed Water Security. We appreciate the Inter‐Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project team for making the multimodel simulations available.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2022/10/1
Y1 - 2022/10/1
N2 - The increasing water use for human activities is threatening the health of ecosystems. Most previous studies on water scarcity mainly centered on human society. In this study, we developed a new indicator, ecological water scarcity (WSeco), that considers water quantity, water quality, and environmental flow requirements. WSeco was assessed at the provincial level in China. The results show that northern China suffered more severe WSeco than southern China. In addition, the WSeco level decreased in 65% of provinces from 2016 to 2019, implying the great achievement of China’s effort in saving water and reducing pollution. The main driving factor of WSeco in most provinces was pollution rather than human water use. The findings of this study demonstrate the spatial distribution, temporal dynamics, and driving factors of WSeco in China. The results can be used to guide efforts for ecological restoration and sustainable water management in different regions.
AB - The increasing water use for human activities is threatening the health of ecosystems. Most previous studies on water scarcity mainly centered on human society. In this study, we developed a new indicator, ecological water scarcity (WSeco), that considers water quantity, water quality, and environmental flow requirements. WSeco was assessed at the provincial level in China. The results show that northern China suffered more severe WSeco than southern China. In addition, the WSeco level decreased in 65% of provinces from 2016 to 2019, implying the great achievement of China’s effort in saving water and reducing pollution. The main driving factor of WSeco in most provinces was pollution rather than human water use. The findings of this study demonstrate the spatial distribution, temporal dynamics, and driving factors of WSeco in China. The results can be used to guide efforts for ecological restoration and sustainable water management in different regions.
KW - ecological restoration
KW - ecological water scarcity
KW - sustainable water management
KW - water footprints
KW - water scarcity indicators
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140075683&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1748-9326/ac95b0
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/ac95b0
M3 - Letter
AN - SCOPUS:85140075683
SN - 1748-9326
VL - 17
JO - Environmental Research Letters
JF - Environmental Research Letters
IS - 10
M1 - 104056
ER -
