Development Of Regional Water Resources Research Articles

Improved prediction of groundwater depth in urban areas using the EWT-S–G-GRU and LSSVM model: a case study of Xinxiang City

ABSTRACT The improvement in predicting groundwater depth accuracy has significant implications for the management, ecological environment protection, and economic and social development of regional water resources. Employing empirical wavelet transform (EWT) for nonlinear processing, Savitzky–Golay (S–G) filtering to reduce high-frequency noise, gate recurrent unit (GRU) neural network for linear feature signal processing, and least squares support vector machine (LSSVM) for nonlinear signal handling, we established a comprehensive model combining EWT-S–G-GRU and LSSVM. The results demonstrate that the proposed model exhibits superior accuracy in groundwater depth prediction, with an average relative error of only 2.14% and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.93. This outperforms the other four models, with average relative errors of 12.88%, 11.90%, 7.07%, and 11.10%, and NSE values of 0.58, 0.56, 0.71, and 0.73, respectively. The superiority of the model established in this study is attributed to its effective handling of both nonlinear and linear features of groundwater, thereby enhancing predictive accuracy. The EWT-S–G-GRU and LSSVM model proves to be more reliable in revealing the spatial distribution and dynamic changes of future groundwater, providing a robust reference for the rational development and utilization of groundwater in the urban area of Xinxiang City.

Assessing Water Security and Coupling Coordination in the Lancang–Mekong River Basin for Sustainable Development

Water security is crucial for the sustainable development of regional water resources. Here, we utilize the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to construct an indicator system for assessing water security in the Lancang–Mekong River Basin (LMRB). This study also delves into the level of development in the coupling coordination between the economic and social systems and the water resources systems in the basin. The findings reveal that the overall water security situation in the LMRB is satisfactory, with three countries (China, Laos, and Vietnam) surpassing the “safe” threshold and three countries (Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar) “Basically safe”. However, water security issues persist, particularly in relation to water pollution and scarcity. Seasonal water shortages and water-related disasters arise due to uneven rainfall distribution throughout the year and inadequate regulating facilities such as wetlands and reservoirs. In addition, the overall coupling coordination level in the LMRB is low, ranging between 0.3 and 0.4, corresponding to a moderate imbalance level in the assessment criteria system. Specifically, Laos and China exhibit the highest coupling coordination level, with a degree of 0.36, whereas Thailand and Myanmar demonstrate the lowest level, with degrees of 0.33 and 0.31, respectively. Overall, our results offer a scientific foundation for the sustainable development of countries within the LMRB.

Ecological Risks Arising in the Regional Water Resources in Inner Mongolia Due to a Large-Scale Afforestation Project

In recent years, a large-scale afforestation campaign has been implemented in Inner Mongolia, China, to control desertification and soil erosion. However, the water consumption associated with large-scale afforestation significantly impacts the water resources in Inner Mongolia, resulting in a major ecological risk. This study aimed to evaluate the ecological risk of water resources caused by afforestation in the region. In this study, using land cover data, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, and meteorological data, we performed trend analysis and used the water balance equation and water security index (WSI) to analyze the ecological risks of water resources caused by afforestation in Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2020. The results show that (1) the afforestation area in Inner Mongolia was 5.37 × 104 km2 in 2000–2020; (2) afforestation in arid and semi-arid areas led to a reduction in water resources; (3) afforestation reduced water resources in the study area by 62 million cubic meters (MCM) per year; and (4) ~76% of afforestation regions faced ecological risks related to water resources. This study provides scientific suggestions for the sustainable development of regional water resources and afforestation.

Scenario simulation and comprehensive assessment of water footprint sustainability system in Heilongjiang Province, China: A model combining system dynamics with improved radar chart approach

With population and economic growth, coupled with the problem of limited water resources, having led to widespread problems like water scarcity with aquatic pollution, exploring the impacts of water exploitation with usage on the environment, society, and economy is important for achieving regional sustainability goals. In order to analyze the impact of different water resources utilization policy scenarios on water footprint (WF) environmental sustainability, WF economic sustainability, WF social sustainability, and scenario optimization, this study employed a system dynamics approach to build a water footprint sustainability (WFS) system under six future scenarios: status quo (S1), open-source throttling (S2), pollution reduction (S3), agricultural development (S4), socioeconomic development (S5), and comprehensive (S6). Additionally, the dynamic effects of different future scenarios on the environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability of regional WF were comparatively analyzed. The improved radar chart approach was applied to calculate the comprehensive assessment values under the different scenarios to select the optimal scenario. The results revealed that compared with scenario S1, scenarios S2 and S3 reduced the consumption and pollution of water resources, whereas scenarios S4, S5, and S6 promoted agricultural and socio-economic development, however, scenarios S4, S5, and S6 were not conducive to solving water shortage and pollution problems. Under the six scenarios, the environmental sustainability and social sustainability of WF would deteriorate, and the economic sustainability would continue to improve. Six scenarios have varying effects on the regional WFS. The comprehensive evaluation value for scenario S6 was the largest, and was much higher than that under scenario S1, indicating that the scenario S6 was the optimal scenario for improving the WFS and realizing the coordinated development of regional water resources and social economy. The findings of this study afforded a scientific foundation for achieving regional sustainable evolution and ensuring water security.

Connection number based model for coordination development evaluation of regional water resources, social economy and ecological environment complex system

The development of social economy often requires a large consumption of water resources, and will also discharge a large amount of pollutants to the environment. Currently, the rapid development of regional water resources, social economy and ecological environment (WSE) complex system encounters significant challenges, and the coordination development of WSE complex system becomes important and necessary condition of regional sustainable development. Therefore, to scientifically evaluate the coordination development state of WSE system, based on the establishment of evaluation index system, the connection number and distance coordination model coupling approach for the coordination development evaluation of WSE complex system was proposed in this manuscript. The application results of the proposed method in Anhui Province, China indicate that, during 2011–2020, the coordination level of Anhui province is relatively high, and the coordination grade of most cities are in grade I or II. The coordination development degree of Anhui province presented a distinct improving trend with time, from most cities in grade IV or V in 2011 to most cities in grade II in 2020, from the worst 0.0580 in 2011 to the best 0.9200 in 2020. In terms of space, the coordinated development level of southern Anhui is higher than that of northern Anhui. Meanwhile, the coordination development status of the 16 cities in Anhui province can be divided into three patterns according to its historical variation characteristics, i.e., coordination development mode, ecological environment backward mode, and social and economic backward mode. Compared with the commonly used coordination evaluation method, the method of this paper can solve the problem of homogenization, and its calculation results are more reasonable and practical.

Response of runoff to climate change in the area of runoff yield in upstream Shiyang River Basin, Northwest China: A case study of the Xiying River

The objective of this study was to analyze the response of runoff in the area of runoff yield of the upstream Shiyang River basin to climate change and to promote sustainable development of regional water resources and ecological environment. As the biggest tributary of the Shiyang River, Xiying River is the only hydrological station (Jiutiaoling) that has provincial natural river and can achieve long time series monitoring data in the basin. The data obtained from this station is representative of natural conditions because it has little human activites. This study built a regression model through identifying the characteristics of runoff and climate change by using Mann-Kendall nonparametric statistical test, cumulative anomaly, and correlation analysis. The results show that the average annual runoff is 320.6 million m³/a with the coefficient of variation of 0.18 and shows slightly decrease during 1956–2020. It has a significant positive correlation the average annual precipitation (P<0.01). Runoff is sensitive to climate change, and the climate has becoming warm and wet and annual runoff has entering wet period from 2003. Compared to the earlier period (1955–2000), the increases of average annual temperature, precipitation and runoff in recent two decades were 15%, 9.3%, and 7.8%, respectively. Runoff in the Shiyang River is affected by temperature and precipitation among climate factors, and the simulation results of the runoff-climate response model (R = 0.0052P − 0.1589T + 2.373) indicate that higher temperature leads to a weakening of the ecological regulation of surface runoff in the flow-producing area.

Research on precipitation prediction based on a complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise–long short-term memory coupled model

Abstract Scientific precipitation predicting is of great value and guidance to regional water resources development and utilization, agricultural production, and drought and flood control. Precipitation is a nonlinear, non-smooth time series with significant stochasticity and uncertainty. In this paper, a complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) with long short-term memory (LSTM) model is developed for predicting annual precipitation in Zhengzhou city, China, which is compared with a single LSTM model, an ensemble empirical mode decomposition–LSTM model, a complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition–LSTM model, and a CEEMDAN–autoregressive integrated moving average and a CEEMDAN–recurrent neural network model. The results show that the mean absolute percentage error, root mean square error, and coefficient of determination of the coupled CEEMDAN–LSTM model are 2.69%, 17.37 mm, and 0.9863, respectively. The prediction accuracy is significantly higher than that of the other five models, indicating that the proposed model has high prediction accuracy and can be used for annual precipitation forecasting in Zhengzhou city.

Low-Altitude Remote Sensing Inversion of River Flow in Ungauged Basins

Runoff is closely related to human production, the regional environment, and hydrological characteristics. It is also an important basis for water cycle research and regional water resource development and management. However, obtaining hydrological information for uninformed river sections is complicated by harsh environments, limited transportation, sparse populations, and a low density of hydrological observation stations in the inland arid zone. Here, low-altitude remote sensing technology was introduced to combine riverbed characteristics through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inversion with classical hydraulic equations for ungauged basins in the middle and lower reaches of the Keriya River, northwest China, and investigate the applicability of this method on wide and shallow riverbeds of inland rivers. The results indicated that the estimated average error of the low-altitude remote sensing flow was 8.49% (ranging 3.26–17.00%), with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.59 m3·s−1 across the six selected river sections, suggesting that this method has some applicability in the study area. Simultaneously, a method for estimating river flow based on the water surface width– and water depth–flow relationship curves for each section was proposed whereas the precise relationships were selected based on actual section attributes to provide a new method for obtaining runoff data in small- and medium-scale river areas where information is lacking.

Evaluation of water resources carrying capacity in ecologically fragile mining areas under the influence of underground reservoirs in coal mines

The coal mine underground reservoir (CMUR) technology effectively solves the problem of “rich coal, poor water and weak ecology” in the mining areas of northwest China. This technology not only makes full use of underground space formed by coal mining, but also protects regional water resources. Water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) is an important indicator for characterizing the sustainable development of regional water resources and ecosystem. With the concept and technical core of " conductivity, storage and use" of CMUR as the entry point, this paper defines the concept of WRCC in the mining area. Based on the fuzzy comprehensive discrimination method, Focusing on stability and sustainability of the ecosystem in the mining area and fully considering geological factors, mining factors, water resource factors, this study constructs an evaluation system for the WRCC of the mining area under the influence of the coal mine underground reservoir based on fuzzy comprehensive discriminant method. Moreover, the evaluation criteria are formulated, and the membership functions and weights of 16 impact factors are derived. The transformation characteristics of WRCC with and without underground reservoir in Shendong mining area from 2009 to 2021 are evaluated CMUR, and the results show that CMUR improves the WRCC of the mining area, and supports the benign development of the regional ecosystem. The results of this study are of reference value and academic significance for the evaluation of WRCC in mining areas and the protection of water resources in ecologically fragile mining areas.

Assessment of the value of regional water conservation services based on SWAT model.

The quantitative evaluation of water conservation in the Luoyang area can provide a basis for decision-making on regional water resources development and utilization, ecological environmental protection, and economic development planning. Based on the SWAT model and alternative engineering method, the water conservation and its service value in Luoyang region from 2009 to 2018 were assessed and the reasons for their spatial and temporal changes were analyzed. The results show that during the period of 2009-2018, the total water connotation and its service value reached the highest in 2014, with 16,927,100 m3 and 103 million yuan, respectively; the total water connotation and its service value reached the lowest in 2011, with 7,073,500 m3 and 43,224,000 yuan, respectively. Forest ecosystems have a strong water retention and storage capacity, and the highest water conservation and service value. Precipitation is the most important factor influencing water conservation and service value. The value of water-supporting services per unit area of ecosystem in Luoyang area is forest, grassland, arable land, and urban in descending order.

Simulation and Prediction of the Impact of Climate Change Scenarios on Runoff of Typical Watersheds in Changbai Mountains, China

Simulating the hydrological process of a river basin helps to understand the evolution of water resources in the region and provides scientific guidance for water resources allocation policies between different river basins and water resources management within the river basin. This paper provides a scientific basis for the sustainable development of regional water resources and an accurate grasp of the future change trend of runoff by analyzing the hydrological process response of runoff in typical watersheds in Changbai Mountains, China, to climate change. The applicability of the HEC-HMS (The Hydrologic Engineering Center’s-Hydrologic Modeling System) hydrological model in the watershed is verified by calibrating and verifying the daily rainfall-runoff process in the watershed during the wet season from 2006 to 2017. The daily rainfall data of the two scenarios SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 under the BCC-CSM2-MR model in the 2021–2050 CMIP6 plan were downscaled and interpolated to in-basin stations to generate future daily precipitation series to predict runoff response to future climate change. The daily rainfall data of the two scenarios were downscaled and interpolated to the stations in the basin to generate future daily rainfall series to predict the runoff response under future climate changes. The average certainty coefficient of the HEC-HMS model for daily runoff simulation reached 0.705; the rainfall in the basin under the two climate scenarios of SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 in the next 30 years (2021–2050) will generally increase, and rainfall will be more evenly distributed in the future; the outlet flow of the basin will increase during the wet season (June–September) in the next 30 years, but it is lower than the historically measured value; the peak flow of the future will appear at most in August and September. The peak flow current time mostly appears in July and August. The time of peak occurrence has been delayed.

Evaluation and prediction of water resources carrying capacity in Jiangsu Province, China

Abstract Water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) is an important component of the carrying capacity of regional natural resources. It is a restrictive index indicating whether a region can support the coordinated development of its population, economy, and environment. In order to solve the problem that WRCC varies with the supporting capacity of, load on, and capacity for regulation of the water resources, this study establishes the relationship between WRCC and the level of socio-economic development (carrying level) and then develops a WRCC evaluation model by analyzing the connotations, characteristics and influencing factors of WRCC. The model is applied to calculate the population and economic scales supportable by water resources in Jiangsu Province under different carrying levels. Predictions are made of the effects of varying water consumption quotas and the industrial structure so as to explore methods of regulating and controlling WRCC in the region. The evaluation, prediction, and control results provide an important reference for the rational allocation of water resources in Jiangsu Province so as to further improve the regional WRCC and achieve sustainable development of regional water resources. The regional WRCC evaluation model has strong applicability and good application effects.

Study on the Development and Utilization Model of Water Resources in Yihe River Basin

The problem of water resource shortage has made many countries in the world face severe challenges. The reasonable water resource development and utilization model has increasingly become the research focus of each country. In this study, the Yihe river basin is taken as the research area. Based on the current water utilization status from 2001 to 2016, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model is used. Selecting five evaluation factors, including urbanization rate, ecological environment water consumption rate, per capita water consumption, surface water supply ratio and groundwater supply ratio, to study the regional water resource development and utilization model. The results show that both Linyi city and Zibo city in the Yihe river basin are more suitable for the joint development model of surface water and groundwater.

Region-wide glacier area and mass budgets for the Shaksgam River Basin, Karakoram Mountains, during 2000–2016

The Karakoram Mountains are well known for their widespread surge-type glaciers and slight glacier mass gains. On the one hand, glaciers are one of the sensitive indicators of climate change, their area and thickness will adjust with climate change. On the other hand, glaciers provide freshwater resources for agricultural irrigation and hydroelectric generation in the downstream areas of the Shaksgam River Basin (SRB) in Western China. The shrinkage of glaciers caused by climate change can significantly affect the security and sustainable development of regional water resources. In this study, we analyzed the changes in glacier area from 2000 to 2016 in the SRB using Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper)/ETM+ (Enhanced Mapper Plus)/OLI (Operational Land Imager) images. It is shown that the SRB contained 472 glaciers, with an area of 1840.3 km2, in 2016. The glacier area decreased by 0.14%/a since 2000, and the shrinkage of glacier in the southeast, east and south directions were the most, while the northeast, north directions were the least. Debris-covered area accounted for 8.0% of the total glacier area. We estimated elevation and mass changes using the 1 arc-second SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) DEM (Digital Elevation Model) (2000) and the resolution of 8 m HMA (High Mountain Asia) DEM (2016). An average thickness of 0.08 (±0.03) m/a, or a slight mass increase of 0.06 (±0.02) m w.e./a has been obtained since 2000. We found thinning was significantly lesser on the clean ice than the debris-covered ice. In addition, the elevation of glacier surface is spatially heterogeneous, showing that the accumulation of mass is dominant in high altitude regions, and the main mass loss is in low altitude regions, excluding the surge-type glacier. For surge-type glaciers, the mass may transfer from the reservoir to the receiving area rapidly when surges, then resulting in an advance of glacier terminus. The main surge mechanism is still unclear, it is worth noting that the surge did not increase the glacier mass in this study.

Application of ecosystem service flows model in water security assessment: A case study in Weihe River Basin, China

Assessing water resource security is vital for the environment development. However, most studies only focus on the static water security status of the region, ignored the spatial flows of ecosystem services. Whereas by integrating the ecosystem services flows model into water security simulation, that we could provide scientific reference for achieving the local water resources sustainable development, and making effective ecological compensation policy. In our study, ecosystem service flows model was integrated into water security assessment to simulate the spatial patterns of water security in Weihe River Basin (WRB) from 2005 to 2015. The results show that (1) the contradiction between the supply and demand of water resources in WRB was prominent, due to the upstream water resources supply, the areas which achieve water security accounted for 10.89% each year. Furthermore, the insufficient and unsupplied areas were increased, which was adverse to the sustainable development of the river basin. (2) The water security index (WSI) in WRB was the lowest in 2010, and the highest in 2005. The change of regional WSI was influenced by the nature environment and human beings, and the main factors were agricultural water consumption and population. (3) The spatial heterogeneity of agricultural water consumption was diverse in the whole river basin, the agricultural water-use efficiency in Weinan City was lower, while the per residential domestic water in Xi’an and Xianyang city was much higher. Therefore local government should advocate develop water-saving agriculture and control urban water quotas, moreover, by adjusting water price cost and raise raising residents' human awareness of water-saving so as to improve the water security in the river basin. This study could provide a theoretical basis for the sustainable development of regional water resources and the promoting the mechanism of ecological compensation.

Comprehensive evaluation on water resource carrying capacity in karst areas using cloud model with combination weighting method: a case study of Guiyang, southwest China.

It is important to maintain the sustainable development of water resources. Objective assessment on water resource carrying capacity (WRCC) is beneficial to the formulation of scientific and reasonable water management practices. In view of the problem that evaluation indicators of WRCC cannot describe the fuzziness and randomness, a cloud model was introduced into regional WRCC assessment. This study selected a typical karst area (Guiyang) as the research object to study WRCC by using cloud model with combination weighting method. WRCC was assessed from the following five dimensions: water environment subsystem, social subsystem, economic subsystem, ecological subsystem, and humanities (water resource management and policy regulation) subsystem. In addition, evaluation results after normalizing all of indicators data were also calculated. And these two kinds of evaluation results were compared with that of technique of order preference similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS), finding that evaluation results of cloud model were consistent with that of TOPSIS method. The cloud model realizes the transformation from qualitative evaluation to quantitative evaluation, which overcome insufficiencies of traditional evaluation methods in considering fuzziness and randomness. Results showed that during the period of 2008-2017, the state of WRCC in Guiyang was improving year by year, increasing from the serious overload carrying capacity level in 2008 to the strong carrying capacity level in 2017 (serious overload-overload-critical-weak carrying capacity-strong carrying capacity). However, some certain evaluation indicators are still in danger situation, such as population natural growth rate and use of the fertilizer per unit cultivated area, which needs to be further enhanced and improved. Moreover, the contradiction among economic development, population growth, and water resources is becoming increasingly apparent. To ensure the effective utilization of water resources in Guiyang, reasonable policies and measures should be formulated and put into effect. Research results could provide certain reference for the sustainable development of regional water resources.

Study on early warning mechanism of ecological water safety in typical watershed of arid areas

In order to improve the comprehensive management level of water resources in the Tarim river basin, a regional water ecological security early warning indicator system were established. Combining the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE), the complex adaptive mechanism of the water security system was integrated. The watershed overall water security belongs to safer status. Regional water security status showed a certain difference, and overall decreased gradually from west to east. Secondary indicators also different in time and space scale, and showed the geographical consistency. While Aksu and Bazhou were in a slight warning status, and regional water resources development level was moderate. Therefore, the regional economic development and water use efficiency should be enhanced to ensure water safety of the basin.

Risk Assessment and Pressure Response Analysis of the Water Footprint of Agriculture and Livestock: A Case Study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region in China

Excessive water consumption, associated with regional agriculture and livestock development and rapid urbanization, has caused significant stress to the ecological health and sustainable use of water resources. We used the water footprint theory to quantify the spatiotemporal characteristics and variation in the water footprint of agriculture and livestock (WF-AL) in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region of China (2000–2016). We predicted the spatial distribution and sustainability of regional water resources at different levels of annual precipitation. Results showed that the average county WF-AL rose from 8.03 × 108 m3 in 2000 to 10.89 × 108 m3 in 2016. There was spatial heterogeneity compared to the average city WF-AL. The WF-AL varied between the mountains and the plains. The scale of the WF-AL was one of the main reasons for differences in the consumption and distribution of water resources. The development of regional water resources deteriorated from a stable state to an unstable state from 2000 to 2016. Only 5.8% of the areas maintained a stable state of water resources. Even in the predicted wet years, no improvements were found in the instability of water resources in four areas centered on the counties of Xinji, Daming, Luannan, and Weichang. To achieve a medium and long-term balance between WF-AL development and water resource recovery, the WF-AL should be limited and combined with reservoir and cross-regional water transfer.

The evolvement mechanism of hydro-meteorological elements under climate change and the interaction impacts in Xin’anjiang Basin, China

In order to explore the evolvement mechanism of hydrological elements under climate change and the interaction impacts, the hydro-meteorological elements, like temperature, precipitation, runoff, and evaporation, are studied by statistical analysis method and cause analysis approach in this paper. Initially, in terms of climate change across Anhui province, the average temperature data from 1960 to 2009 at 15 meteorological stations are selected from China Meteorological Data Sharing Network to analyze the spatio-temporal variation of temperature characteristics. Secondly, from the perspective of Xin’anjiang Basin, evolution rules of hydro-meteorological elements are studied through deviation variation of every 10 years and the long-term development trend from 1981 to 2010 at 9 hydrological stations. And the influence of climate change on runoff is analyzed according to the principle of runoff formation, and the response of runoff to precipitation and temperature is predicted with the simulating future climate change by climate models. The results show that, through statistics, the average temperature in Anhui province is in a fluctuating downward state from 1960 to 1990. After 1990, the uptrend is significant. In Xin’anjiang Basin, the annual precipitation declines overally, especially at some stations it is obvious. The variation of runoff is in a downtrend consistent with precipitation, but it is not noticeable, taken as a whole. The average evaporation changes unremarkably, except in summer and winter. Under three scenarios of A1B, A2 and B1, it is assumed that temperature, precipitation and runoff are all increasing in the future. Through cause analysis, these mainly seem to be affected by the circulation of weather background and sea surface temperature. Based on the analysis of hydro-meteorological elements under climate change and the forecasting of their future changes, the development of regional water resources can be grasped which is of great significance for human interests to water supply scheme, water conservancy project planning, and the economic-social sustainablility.

Water-saving irrigation subsidy could increase regional water consumption

The promotion of water-saving irrigation on regional level will bring complex impacts on agricultural production, farmers' welfare, exploitation and utilization of water resource. The policy on the development of water-saving irrigation are not always positive and practical. The overall goal of this study is to analyze the impact on irrigation methods, plantation structure, water consumption and economic benefits brought by drip irrigation under film (DIUF) promotion policy. Based on a field survey in North China Plain, this study set three policy scenarios which limit total irrigation area and total water consumption. The results showed that: In terms of agricultural production and farmers’ welfare, DIUF promoted the utilization of irrigation methods (increased by 70%, 70% and 64%). Driven by economic benefits, farmers tend to grow economic crops which are relatively water-consuming to increase net income (increased by 77.54%, 60.72% and 46.52%). On the aspect of regional water resource development and utilization, subsidy on the DIUF increased the total regional water consumption with the change of irrigation methods and plantation structure (increased by 34.27%, 32.20% and 21.84%). Surface and underground water compensation through reflux and leakage decreased (decreased by 78.65%, 70.93% and 73.20%). These results and implications offer an insight to improve strategies and policies that enable to cope with water scarcity in arid area.