18
1 Physical Settings and Water Challenges
Table 1.9 Water supply infrastructure in 2000
Primary
water
resources
zones
Storage
Diversion
Pumping
Transfer Wells
(1,000)
No.
Large
scale
No.
Large-scale No.
Large-scale
Songhua
13,900 42
1,400 10
5,000 4
0
413.7
Liao River
4,300 38
1,700 10
2,000 0
0
305.7
Hai River
19,400 33
6,200 18
13,100 6
27
1,361.6
Yellow
River
19,000 21
12,900 26
22,300 5
0
603.2
Huai River
593,100 50
900 89
18,300 18
43
1,773.5
Yangtze
River
4,851,100 138
247,300 181
121,000 30
11
172.1
Of
which:Taihu
Lake
59,500
7
5,000 87
25,800 22
7
8.1
Rivers in
Southeast
China
262,500 36
230,700
2
55,600 0
0
22.4
Pearl River
143,100 84
214,000
3
60,100 8
3
196.1
Rivers in
Southwest
China
22,100
2
119,600
0
2,300 0
3
13
Rivers in
Northwest
China
900 23
1,500 94
600 0
2
94.4
Northern
China
650,700 207
24,500 247
61,400 34
72
4,552.1
Southern
China
5,278,700 260
811,600 186
239,000 38
17
403.6
Total
5,929,400 467
836,100 433
300,400 72
89
4,955.7
Sources General Institute of Water and Power Planning (2014) Assessment for water resources and
its development and use. China Water and Power Publisher, Beijing, p. 239
Permission granted by General Institute of Water and Power Planning on its website subject to proper
citation
1.4.2 Water Use
The total water use in China increased from 443.7 km
3 in 1980 to 604.0 km
3 in 2016.
The greatest use occurred in 2013, at 618.0 km
3 . Since 2013, the total water use has
decreased (Nanjing Institute of Hydrology of Water Resources, China Institute of
Water Resources and Hydropower Research 1998; Institute of Water and Power
Planning, Ministry of Water and Power 1989; MWR 1998–2017) (Fig. 1.3). To some
extent, water use in China has reached its peak (Fig. 1.4).