Coupled effects of land use and climate change on water supply in SSP–RCP scenarios: A case study of the Ganjiang River Basin, China

Abstract

Coupling land use and climate change under shared socioeconomic pathway and representative concentration pathway (SSP–RCP) scenarios can provide more accurate predictions of water supply risks, thereby supporting decision-making for spatial planning with a focus on climate adaptation. Climate change exhibits spatial and temporal differences. To meet the requirements of spatial planning, further research is needed to assess water supply risks at different basin or regional scales. In this study, we selected four SSP–RCP scenarios for analysis, considering the temporal scale of spatial planning. The climate modeling capabilities of five global climate models (GCMs) and a multi-model ensemble (MME) were evaluated using a Taylor diagram, which assesses the performance of climate element simulations. The modeling framework that consisted of system dynamics (SD), patch-generating land-use simulations (PLUS), and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was employed to analyze synergistic changes in climate, land use, and water supply. The Ganjiang River Basin (GRB) serves as a case study for climate-adaptive planning at the basin scale, given its characteristics of high agricultural water demand and vulnerability to droughts and floods. The study aims to provide decision-making support for such planning. In our projections, precipitation in the GRB showed a slightly increasing trend from 2021 to 2050. Monthly precipitation increases during the flood season in August and decreases during the dry season from October to December. The maximum and minimum temperatures showed an increasing trend on both the yearly and monthly scales, with slightly higher increases during fall and winter. During the planning phase, the land use quantities of SSP126 and SSP245 showed similar variations. SSP370 experienced the most significant reduction in farmland, while SSP585 displayed a more scattered and punctuated layout of construction land. The annual water supply in the GRB showed a slightly decreasing trend from 2021 to 2035 and 2036–2050, and the largest reduction was found in SSP370. The trend of variation in the monthly water supply was complex. There was a consistent trend of decreasing water supply during the dry season, whereas the changes during the flood season were more complex. Seasonal variations in water supply are a major water security concern for the basin’s future. It is necessary to strengthen the agricultural water security planning in the northern region of the basin and enhance its ability to adapt to droughts and floods.