Abstract:

In the aim of assessing the water scarcity situation of river basins in China, Water Exploitation Index Plus (WEI+) developed by European Union was introduced to compute the water scarcity situations from 2003 to 2012 in ten first-grade districts of water resources in China. Results show that the WEI+ in rivers basin in Southwest China is the smallest, with the average value of 1.9%, and that of Haihe River Basin is the largest, with the average value of 130%. The WEI+ values of six basins in the North are larger than those of four basins in the South, indicating a severe water scarcity situation in North China. The WEI+ values of four basins in the South changed little during 2003-2012, while those of six basins in the North fluctuated greatly. Moreover, the WEI+ values of most river basins displayed a downward trend, showing the alleviation of water scarcity situation. In addition, the spatial distribution pattern of WEI+ is generally similar with that of water conservancy development and utilization degree, which indicates that WEI+ could effectively reflect the regional water scarcity situation in China.

Key words: water scarcity, Water Exploitation Index Plus(WEI+), first-grade districts of water resources, four basins in South China, six basins in North China