Abstract
In the context of a changing environment and economic globalization, the evolution of regional hydrology and water resources systems has undergone profound changes. It is not enough to rely on traditional physical water resources planning, scheduling, and regulation methods to solve problems such as water shortages and imbalances in the water cycle associated with rapid economic development. The theory of virtual water expands the cognitive scope of hydrology and water resources and enriches the solutions to water problems. However, the academic community has not yet reached a consensus on how to build a unified framework of the virtual water theory and traditional hydrology and water resources recognition system, how to understand the new laws of water resources evolution in the natural–economic continuous system, and then how to realize efficient and sustainable usage of water resources through physical water–virtual water integrated management. This paper proposes a basic cognitive model of coupling of physical water–virtual water and discusses the evolution of hydrology and water resources in a natural–economic system, presenting the laws of the coupled flow of physical water–virtual water in natural systems and human economic systems. A quantitative expression equation is proposed for the flow process, and a basic theoretical framework for the coupled flow of physical water–virtual water is preliminarily constructed. At the end of the paper, the basic strategy for the regulation of a physical water–virtual water integrated management system is proposed, which provides a new perspective for the efficient and sustainable use of global water resources in a changing environment.
Highlights
The water crisis is a global strategic crisis in the 21st century [1,2]
In terms of the flowing path, the physical water path and virtual water production and consumption path are intertwined and coupled with each other. This coupling effect is mainly reflected in the production process, which is the process where physical water is embedded into the commodity as virtual water
BLCw can be characterized by the ratio of total water resources demand (TD) to maximum available water resources (MAWres); BLCe can be described by the ratio of total pollutant discharge (TPD) over system environmental carrying capacity (CAPenv); BLCc can be characterized by the ratio of ecological water flux (WUeco) and economic water flux (WUsoc), and δ is an adjustment factor
Summary
The water crisis is a global strategic crisis in the 21st century [1,2]. Currently, there are around 0.7 billion people suffering from severe water scarcity globally [3]. The development of agriculture, industry, urban life, and the tertiary industry has had a great impact on hydrology and water resources systems, which has brought forth many water-related problems, such as the deterioration of the water ecological environment and competition and expulsion among water users [37,38] In this context, to solve the issues of regional water resources, some new theories and perspectives—e.g., cloud water resources [39], pan-river-basin management [40,41], and virtual water strategy—have been proposed as a supplement for water conservancy project regulation within basins, and traditional water conservation and efficiency-enhancing water resources management [42].
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