Tele-connecting water consumption in Tibet: Patterns and socio-economic driving factors for virtual water trades

Abstract

As the headwaters region of many major Asian rivers and one of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the world, Tibet is an important strategic water resources and ecological conservation district in China. Although Tibet has developed increasing economic links with external regions, the virtual water (VW) interactions have rarely been discussed due to data unavailability. In this study, based on a newly released China multiple-regional input-output table in 2012, Tibet's local water use is analyzed by associating it with interregional-level trades in China. The structural decomposition analysis (SDA), which is conventionally applied to trace influencing factors for temporal changes of environmental variables, is adapted to examine socio-economic determinants of net VW trade in Tibet. The results indicate that Tibet is a net VW exporter, providing 577.5 million m3 net VW to other provinces. The SDA results provide quantified effects of different factors. Tibet's low direct water use intensity and water intensive dominated export structure contribute 1048.6 and 738.9 million m3 net VW exports, respectively. In contrast, the trade volume of commodities and production structure contribute to offsetting the net VW export 1140.7 and 69.4 million m3, respectively. Policies are informed towards sustainable water resources uses and management. Measures including resources use efficiency improvement, industry upgrade towards a less resource intensive production structure and material support from external regions are suggested, highlighting the importance of strengthening coordination between Tibet and downstream regions.