Emergency Plan for Water Supply in Consecutive Droughts and Sustainable Water Resources Management in Beijing

Abstract

Beijing, the capital city of China, has suffered from acute water shortage, with only 300 m3/a of water resources available per capita. In addition, Beijing has experienced a prolonged period of consecutive droughts from 1999 to 2010. Water crisis has constrained the socio‐economic development of Beijing. Meanwhile, the national “South‐to‐North Water Transfer” (STNWT) project, which is expected to provide some relief to the water crisis in Beijing, is still under development. In order to ensure the security of water supply in Beijing before the completion of the STNWT project, several measures have been implemented to cope with droughts, including pumping groundwater from emergency well fields, water saving, recycling of water, rain and flood water harvesting, and the diversion of water from neighboring rivers and groundwater basins. Groundwater from four emergency well fields contributes the most to the public and domestic water supplies in Beijing, supplying a total volume of 1.8×109 m3. The water crisis is supposed to be mitigated by the completion of the STNWT project. After the completion of this project, more sustainable management of water resources will be implemented, including the use of aquifers as groundwater reservoirs and conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater resources.