Effects of Artificial Water Withdrawal on the Terrestrial Water Cycle in the Yangtze River Basin

Abstract

Clarifying the response of the terrestrial water cycle to the influence of climate change and human activities and accurately grasping the variations in the water cycle and water resources under the changing environment are the scientific basis for achieving the sustainable development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. In this paper, a dataset of rasterized water consumption in the Yangtze River Basin was constructed, and an artificial water withdrawal module considering the process of water intake, water consumption and drainage was designed, which was coupled with the land surface model CLM4.5. Based on the multi-scale validation in the Yangtze River Basin, two numerical simulation experiments were carried out to reveal the impact of artificial water withdrawal on the water cycle process in the Yangtze River Basin. The results indicate that artificial water withdrawal leads to an 0.1–0.3 m increase in groundwater table depth in most areas of the basin, and agricultural irrigation leads to a 0–0.03 mm3/mm3 increase in soil moisture in most areas. Climate change dominates the variation of discharge in the Yangtze River basin and leads to an increase in discharge at most stations.