432
19 Review and Outlook
19.1 Water Resources Development and Use Since 1949
In the 70 years since the foundation of the PRC, water resources development and
use have significantly improved in the country. The irrigated area grew from 15
million ha to 74.542 million ha in 2018, of which 68.272 million ha is cultivated
land. At the end of 2018, the total water supply capacity had reached 867.7 billion
m
3 , of which cross-county regional water supply projects; reservoirs; river and lake
diversions; river and lake pumping; mechanical and electric tube wells; pond, bar,
and pool engineering; and non-traditional water supplies contributed 56.71, 232.37,
210.51, 175.47, 140.09, 35.79, and 16.84 billion m
3 , respectively. A multi-source
water supply system has been established in China (MWR 2019).
After 1949, water resource use experienced a process of fast growth, structural
balance, and zero increase. Total water use increased from 103.1 billion m
3 in 1949
to 601.6 billion m
3 in 2018. Peak use occurred in 2013. Before 1990, agriculture
was the key sector driving the increase in total water use; industry played the key
role from 1990–2010. After 1990, structural change is being investigated with a
decreasing percentage of agricultural use and increasing industrial and domestic
use. After 2010, China entered into a zero-increase stage (Fig. 19.1).
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Agricultrue
Industry
Domestic
Environment
Total use
Fig. 19.1 Water use in China between 1949–2016. Sources MWR
Permission granted by MWR on its website subject to proper citation
19 Review and Outlook
19.1 Water Resources Development and Use Since 1949
In the 70 years since the foundation of the PRC, water resources development and
use have significantly improved in the country. The irrigated area grew from 15
million ha to 74.542 million ha in 2018, of which 68.272 million ha is cultivated
land. At the end of 2018, the total water supply capacity had reached 867.7 billion
m
3 , of which cross-county regional water supply projects; reservoirs; river and lake
diversions; river and lake pumping; mechanical and electric tube wells; pond, bar,
and pool engineering; and non-traditional water supplies contributed 56.71, 232.37,
210.51, 175.47, 140.09, 35.79, and 16.84 billion m
3 , respectively. A multi-source
water supply system has been established in China (MWR 2019).
After 1949, water resource use experienced a process of fast growth, structural
balance, and zero increase. Total water use increased from 103.1 billion m
3 in 1949
to 601.6 billion m
3 in 2018. Peak use occurred in 2013. Before 1990, agriculture
was the key sector driving the increase in total water use; industry played the key
role from 1990–2010. After 1990, structural change is being investigated with a
decreasing percentage of agricultural use and increasing industrial and domestic
use. After 2010, China entered into a zero-increase stage (Fig. 19.1).
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Agricultrue
Industry
Domestic
Environment
Total use
Fig. 19.1 Water use in China between 1949–2016. Sources MWR
Permission granted by MWR on its website subject to proper citation