Strategy and Measures Dealing with Water Resource Shortages in Northwest China
Zhang, Linus LU
and Zhu, Kun
(1998)
The Fourth International Symposium and Exhibition on Environmental Contamination in Central and Eastern Europe
- Abstract
- The water resources shortage is considered as the main obstacle for human activities and economical development in the Northwest District of China where most lands are desert or uncultivated soils with arid, cold climate and very limited precipitation. The water supply in the district relies on both river flow and groundwater recharged from snow and glacier melt. However, water resources that were tremendously unwell-distributed over the areas with enormous variations in quantity affected by seasons, were over-exploited in the past decade. Consequently, the various environmental problems occurred, and ecosystem was seriously damaged due to the fact of water quality degradation and water quantity depletion. Based on the evaluation of total... (More)
- The water resources shortage is considered as the main obstacle for human activities and economical development in the Northwest District of China where most lands are desert or uncultivated soils with arid, cold climate and very limited precipitation. The water supply in the district relies on both river flow and groundwater recharged from snow and glacier melt. However, water resources that were tremendously unwell-distributed over the areas with enormous variations in quantity affected by seasons, were over-exploited in the past decade. Consequently, the various environmental problems occurred, and ecosystem was seriously damaged due to the fact of water quality degradation and water quantity depletion. Based on the evaluation of total water resources by the balance model for surface water and groundwater, the resolutions for solving water resources shortage in the Northwest District are proposed. Two categories of the measures and approaches are recommended to deal with water resources shortage and relevant environmental issues. Through the technical measures, development of new water resources is emphasized including exploration of new groundwater resources from deep aquifers in Gobi-desert, collecting surface runoff for underground storage, and strengthening wastewater treatment for reuse. Other kinds of the measures are to strengthen water resources conservation, increase recycling rate of water resources based on the scientific and technical management, and continuously improve the new technologies for water consumption and related facilities. The paper also discusses how to protect oasis from desert extension and prevent farming land from salinization through the integrated water resources management. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3bb50414-6a7c-4a11-842a-0fc6e13bc92b
- author
- Zhang, Linus
LU
and Zhu, Kun
- organization
- publishing date
- 1998
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- pages
- 9 pages
- conference name
- The Fourth International Symposium and Exhibition on Environmental Contamination in Central and Eastern Europe
- conference location
- Warsaw, Poland
- conference dates
- 1998-09-15 - 1998-09-17
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 3bb50414-6a7c-4a11-842a-0fc6e13bc92b
- date added to LUP
- 2025-02-15 16:12:51
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 13:57:45
@misc{3bb50414-6a7c-4a11-842a-0fc6e13bc92b,
abstract = {{The water resources shortage is considered as the main obstacle for human activities and economical development in the Northwest District of China where most lands are desert or uncultivated soils with arid, cold climate and very limited precipitation. The water supply in the district relies on both river flow and groundwater recharged from snow and glacier melt. However, water resources that were tremendously unwell-distributed over the areas with enormous variations in quantity affected by seasons, were over-exploited in the past decade. Consequently, the various environmental problems occurred, and ecosystem was seriously damaged due to the fact of water quality degradation and water quantity depletion. Based on the evaluation of total water resources by the balance model for surface water and groundwater, the resolutions for solving water resources shortage in the Northwest District are proposed. Two categories of the measures and approaches are recommended to deal with water resources shortage and relevant environmental issues. Through the technical measures, development of new water resources is emphasized including exploration of new groundwater resources from deep aquifers in Gobi-desert, collecting surface runoff for underground storage, and strengthening wastewater treatment for reuse. Other kinds of the measures are to strengthen water resources conservation, increase recycling rate of water resources based on the scientific and technical management, and continuously improve the new technologies for water consumption and related facilities. The paper also discusses how to protect oasis from desert extension and prevent farming land from salinization through the integrated water resources management.}},
author = {{Zhang, Linus and Zhu, Kun}},
language = {{eng}},
title = {{Strategy and Measures Dealing with Water Resource Shortages in Northwest China}},
year = {{1998}},
}