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18 Climatic Change and Water Resources
18.4 Water Resources
18.4.1 Observations
In the past 60 years, land cover was quite different from the previous period; therefore,
water resources evolution mechanisms have been changed. According to the National
Water Resources Comprehensive Plan, comparing data series from 1980 to 2000 and
1956 to 1979 (representing 1970s land cover), precipitation changed very little for
China as a whole, and surface water resources and total water resources increased
somewhat. In Southern China, runoff and total water resources increased nearly 5%,
while in Northern China, water resources decreased significantly, especially in the
Yellow River Basin, Hai River Basin, and Liao River Basin. In the Hai River Basin,
a 10% decrease in precipitation resulted in a 41% decrease in runoff and a 25%
decrease in total water resources (Figs. 18.2 and 18.3). In the Shandong Peninsula
of the Huai River Basin, a 16% decrease in precipitation resulted in a 51% decrease
in runoff and a 34% decrease in total water resources (Table 18.1). From the 1950s
to the 1990s, the runoff to the sea was reduced significantly in northern China, with
77% in the Hai River water resources zone, 70% in the Yellow River water resources
zone, and 26% in the Huai River water resources zone. Natural runoff from the
Yellow River reduced from 58 billion m
3 between 1919 and 1975 to 53.5 billion m
3
-5
2.41
12.85
-10.
-40.
-14.
-14.
7.45
5.95
1.88
-1.
2.21
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
10
20
Rivers in Southeast China
Rivers in Northwest China
Songhua River Basin
Yangtze River Basin
China
%
Liao River Basin
Hai River Basin
Yellow River Basin
Huai River Basin
Pearl River Basin
Rivers in Southwest China
Fig. 18.2 Surface water resources comparison between 1956–1979 and 1980–2000 in China and
different river basins. Source Shen (2010)
Permission granted by Shen (2010) subject to proper citation