Investigation of the safety threshold of eco-environmental water demands for the Bosten Lake wetlands, western China

Abstract

Bosten Lake is the largest inland freshwater lake. It has very important ecological significance to protect Bosten Lake wetlands. In this study, the ecological water level method was applied to the Bosten Lake wetlands. A frequency analysis on water level time series data was performed to investigate the relationship between the water level variation and the changes in ecological environment. The minimum, medium and ideal ecological water level coefficients were estimated to further determine the corresponding minimum, medium and ideal ecological environment water demands. The results show that the monthly minimum, medium and ideal ecological water levels were 1045.7 m, 1047 m and 1048 m, and their coefficients were 0.9992, 1.000046 and 1.0014, respectively. The water demand threshold that sustains the eco-environmental safety in the Bosten Lake wetlands is 6.175–8.633 billion m3 per month. This study could work for the department of water resources management as a scientific basis for the rational allocation of water resources and the study of wetland ecological water rights, and thus contribute to the wetland protection.