Evaluation of national rainwater development and utilization potential based on Geoclimatic zoning

Abstract

In response to the fact that we are short of systematic evaluation of rainwater utilization potential, and lack the results of rainwater utilization potential for the whole country and different levels of climate zones, this paper defines and divides suitable areas for rainwater harvesting and utilization based on the differences of geography, climate and geological conditions in China, and also describes the rainwater development and utilization potential from the perspective of “appropriate” development and utilization of unconventional water resources and constructs a calculation model to evaluate the rainwater development and utilization potential in China based on geological and climatic dimensions. The results show that China's rainwater harvesting and utilization area is divided into core area and general area, where the core area is divided into Loess Plateau hilly area and the Karst area. In 2020, China's rainwater development and utilization potential are 111.59 billion m3, while the rainwater development and utilization rate is only 0.7%, so there is a large potential for the development and utilization of rainwater resources in the future, and we can vigorously develop and utilize the rainwater in places where there is demand.