干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Water Scarcity poses serious challenges to development in the typical inland areas across northwest China. Overexploitation of groundwater resources has further stressed the problem resulting in groundwater depletion, raising concerns such as drying wells, increasing pumping costs, and damaging environment. With rapid urban development, the demands on the available water resources are increasing to meet the agricultural, industrial, municipal, and environmental requirements. For sustainable water availability for economic development and environmental management, understanding the interactions of different hydrologic variables affecting the water availability is necessary. In this study, a case of Shanshan County, northwest of China, has been studied. The water demand and supply system, under the influence of climate change, is simulated from 2000 to 2030 using the modeling tool Stella. To evaluate different water management strategies, various scenarios were developed. The results indicated that apart from the rapid growing water demand, the low water reuse and low water use efficiency are the primary concerns for the water crisis in Shanshan. Based on this, a final water resources management strategy was developed that include changing water source, reducing irrigation area, improving irrigation efficiency, and reducing industrial demand by 50%. With these changes, by 2030, groundwater withdrawals and recharge can be balanced. The dynamic simulation model provides a better understanding of key factors in the demand and supply of water and their interaction. The results may assist water managers in efficient management of water resources in the region.