干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Water resources are indispensable material basis for human existence and social and economic development. Bosten Lake Basin is located in a remote region of the Eurasian continent with a high degree of development and utilization of water resource. Over-exploitation of water resources has resulted in vegetative degradation and other environmental deterioration; it is therefore necessary to understand the relationship between water supply and water demand in the Bosten Lake Basin. Climate change and increasing agricultural water demand have further exacerbated water shortages in recent years, and in 2012, the water shortage reached 8.56x10(8) m(3). In this study, various methods were used to calculate domestic, livestock, industrial, ecological, and agricultural water demand, and an estimation of a reasonable water balance is given. Our results provide useful information regarding the balance between supply and demand, which can be adapted to water resource management and planning in other regions.