Water Resources Supply-Consumption (Demand) Balance Analyses in the Yellow River Basin in 2009

Abstract

For this paper, according to the statistics of water resources amounts and utilization needs, we carried out a water resources security preliminary evaluation from the following points of view: water consumption balance analysis, available water resources analysis, supply-demand water resources balance analysis, and overall water resources security analysis for the Yellow River Basin in 2009. The results of the research show that the consumption rate in 2009 was 75.5% for the Yellow River Basin. The total amount of local water in the Yellow River Basin was 58.210 billion m3, but both the supply water and the amount of available water are very low. Meanwhile, from the point of view of net water consumption, the deficit water resource amounts to16.763 billion m3, and in view of the size of the water supply, the deficit water resources amounts to 16.12 billion m3. The current deficit has been created by over-exploiting groundwater, squeezing ecological water consumption, re-using wastewater, and utilizing brackish water, sea water. Therefore, the water supply in the Yellow River Basin is not sustainable, and so it is not secure. As there exist issues in terms of the water resource and in terms of socioeconomic security and ecological security in the Yellow River Basin, we can conclude that the present Yellow River water resource is not reliable, which means that this water resource may not be able to meet future normal demands for living, production, and ecology maintenance.