86
signifi cant impacts on water resources. Agricultural water use, including irrigation,
accounts for about 70% of global water withdrawals [ 18 ]. In dryland regions, largescale development of irrigation farming induces dramatic increase of water demand.
Consequently, it often results in stoppage of river fl ows, dry-up of lakes, decline of
groundwater table and other related ecosystem degradation.
Second, the Heihe River basin, the second largest inland river in China, provides
many topics for the study of sustainable development in dryland regions. In the
Oasis Unit, we highlight several of these: watershed management, water-saving
policies (decision-making processes, implementation and assessment), as well as
environmental degradation and recovery.
In the Heihe River basin, historically, people living in the middle reaches and the
ones living in the lower reaches had different ways of production. People living in
the middle reaches adopted irrigation farming (settled culture); while the people
living in the lower reaches adopted nomadic husbandry. Since the 1950s, intensive
agricultural practices in the middle reaches have resulted in a dramatic degradation
of the environment in the lower reaches. Confl icts over water use between the people living in the middle reaches and those living in the lower reaches date back at
least 200 years ago [ 19 – 21 ]. However, these confl icts have never been as fi erce as
today. The intensive exploitation of water resources in the middle reaches has
largely declined the amount of water fl ows to the lower reaches. By 2002, more than
30 tributaries of the Heihe River basin had dried up. In the lower reaches, two terminal lakes dried up in 1961 and 1992, respectively. Riparian vegetation degraded.
Salinization and desertifi cation intensifi ed. The desertifi cation in the lower reaches
has attracted substantial attention nationwide and is thought to be the origin of dust
storms in the spring.
In recent years, a range of environmental conservation activities has been carried
out in the river basin, particularly Zhangye, a city in the middle reaches. The main
purpose of environmental conservation activities is to preserve the environment in
the lower reaches. At the core of those activities is the Integrated Water Resources
Management Plan of the Heihe River Basin promulgated by the Chinese State
Council in 2001. This plan states that “when the river discharge from the upper
reaches amounts to 1.58 billion m3/a, Zhangye City, located in the middle reaches
of the Heihe River basin, has to increase discharge of 0.225 billion m3/a to the
lower reaches, which means 0.95 billion m3/a should be released to the lower
reaches” [ 22 ]. In other words, the central government requires the city of Zhangye
to reduce water consumption by administrative order. Since 2001, Zhangye has
been repeatedly selected as an experimental site for pilot programs of water resource
management. In particular, in early 2002, the Ministry of Water Resources of China
initiated an experimental project for establishing a water-saving society in the middle reaches at Zhangye. The project was set to save water and increase water use
effi ciency mainly in two ways: (1) by building concrete irrigation channels using
government funds; (2) by introducing market mechanism. The policies include
introduction of meters to charge for irrigation water based on the amount used, and
the introduction of water use rights system with tradable water quotas. At the same
time, in Ejina in the lower reaches, a relocation policy has been implemented
because overgrazing was considered one reason for environmental degradation.
T. Akiyama and J. Li
signifi cant impacts on water resources. Agricultural water use, including irrigation,
accounts for about 70% of global water withdrawals [ 18 ]. In dryland regions, largescale development of irrigation farming induces dramatic increase of water demand.
Consequently, it often results in stoppage of river fl ows, dry-up of lakes, decline of
groundwater table and other related ecosystem degradation.
Second, the Heihe River basin, the second largest inland river in China, provides
many topics for the study of sustainable development in dryland regions. In the
Oasis Unit, we highlight several of these: watershed management, water-saving
policies (decision-making processes, implementation and assessment), as well as
environmental degradation and recovery.
In the Heihe River basin, historically, people living in the middle reaches and the
ones living in the lower reaches had different ways of production. People living in
the middle reaches adopted irrigation farming (settled culture); while the people
living in the lower reaches adopted nomadic husbandry. Since the 1950s, intensive
agricultural practices in the middle reaches have resulted in a dramatic degradation
of the environment in the lower reaches. Confl icts over water use between the people living in the middle reaches and those living in the lower reaches date back at
least 200 years ago [ 19 – 21 ]. However, these confl icts have never been as fi erce as
today. The intensive exploitation of water resources in the middle reaches has
largely declined the amount of water fl ows to the lower reaches. By 2002, more than
30 tributaries of the Heihe River basin had dried up. In the lower reaches, two terminal lakes dried up in 1961 and 1992, respectively. Riparian vegetation degraded.
Salinization and desertifi cation intensifi ed. The desertifi cation in the lower reaches
has attracted substantial attention nationwide and is thought to be the origin of dust
storms in the spring.
In recent years, a range of environmental conservation activities has been carried
out in the river basin, particularly Zhangye, a city in the middle reaches. The main
purpose of environmental conservation activities is to preserve the environment in
the lower reaches. At the core of those activities is the Integrated Water Resources
Management Plan of the Heihe River Basin promulgated by the Chinese State
Council in 2001. This plan states that “when the river discharge from the upper
reaches amounts to 1.58 billion m3/a, Zhangye City, located in the middle reaches
of the Heihe River basin, has to increase discharge of 0.225 billion m3/a to the
lower reaches, which means 0.95 billion m3/a should be released to the lower
reaches” [ 22 ]. In other words, the central government requires the city of Zhangye
to reduce water consumption by administrative order. Since 2001, Zhangye has
been repeatedly selected as an experimental site for pilot programs of water resource
management. In particular, in early 2002, the Ministry of Water Resources of China
initiated an experimental project for establishing a water-saving society in the middle reaches at Zhangye. The project was set to save water and increase water use
effi ciency mainly in two ways: (1) by building concrete irrigation channels using
government funds; (2) by introducing market mechanism. The policies include
introduction of meters to charge for irrigation water based on the amount used, and
the introduction of water use rights system with tradable water quotas. At the same
time, in Ejina in the lower reaches, a relocation policy has been implemented
because overgrazing was considered one reason for environmental degradation.
T. Akiyama and J. Li