Abstract
Abstract. Water resource problems, one of the most important environmental and socio-economic issues, have been a common concern worldwide in recent years. Water resource risks are attracting more and more attention from the international community and national governments. Given the current situations of water resources and the water environment, and the characteristics of water resources management and information statistics of China, this paper establishes an index system for water risk assessment in river basins of China based on the index system of water risk assessment proposed by the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) and German Investment and Development Co., Ltd (DEG). The new system is more suitable for Chinese national conditions and endorses the international assessment index. A variety of factors are considered to determine the critical values of classification for each index, and the indexes are graded by means of 5-grade and 5-score scales; the weights and calculation methods of some indexes are adjusted, with the remaining indexes adopting the method of WWF. The Weighted Comprehensive Index Summation Process is adopted to calculate the integrated assessment score of the river basin. The method is applied to the Haihe River basin in China. The assessment shows that the method can accurately reflect the water risk level of different river basins. Finally, the paper discusses the continuing problems in water risk assessment and points out the research required to provide a reference for further study in this field.
Highlights
Being a fundamental natural resource and strategic economic resource, intensive and relentless exploitation of water resources has resulted in a series of issues which directly affect socioeconomic development and the ecological environment balance
According to the evaluation index systems at the river basin level introduced by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), water risk assessment of China needs to link up with an international assessment index system, so making the results comparable worldwide
This paper makes some adjustments to the assessment indexes and weights proposed by WWF, details the concepts behind some indexes and calculation methods, and puts forward a research method for water risk assessment in river basins in China, which is more suitable for the Chinese national situation and is able to reflect the true facts of a given basin
Summary
Being a fundamental natural resource and strategic economic resource, intensive and relentless exploitation of water resources has resulted in a series of issues which directly affect socioeconomic development and the ecological environment balance. In 2012 the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), together with the German Investment and Development Co., Ltd (DEG), produced a method of water risk assessment, based on an evaluation index system including the national level, river basin level and enterprise level. According to the evaluation index systems at the river basin level introduced by WWF, water risk assessment of China needs to link up with an international assessment index system, so making the results comparable worldwide.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
