Abstract: In recent years, the success of shale gas revolution in the United States has led to the rapid development of shale gas exploitation worldwide. China is also steadily following up the development of related industries in order to gain more self-sufficiency in the field of energy. At present, research on shale gas exploitation in the world mainly focuses on augmenting production, increasing efficiency and environmental impact; while in China, researches are mainly focused on increasing production and efficiency rather than its impact on water resources. With the shale gas exploitation in Enshi Prefecture as a case study, we investigated into the impact of shale gas exploitation on water resources by examining the local water resources situation and water demand of shale gas exploitation. Results revealed low rate of water resources utilization and a small influence of shale gas exploitation on water resources. The water consumption of shale gas exploitation in three counties of Enshi endowed with abundant shale gas resource accounted for a not big proportion of available water resources amount. Given the water supply capacity, however, water consumption of high intensity in short-term in a small area would still affect the local ecology.

Key words: shale gas exploitation, water resources consumption, water pollution, management and protection, Enshi Prefecture