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Water resources in China

Sustainable Development in China. Water resources in China. WANG Hongtao, Ph.D., Associate Professor College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University hongtao@tongji.edu.cn 9 April, 2013. Outline. 1. Introduction to water resources 1.1 Water resources

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Water resources in China

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  1. Sustainable Development in China Water resources in China WANG Hongtao, Ph.D., Associate Professor College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University hongtao@tongji.edu.cn 9 April, 2013

  2. Outline • 1. Introduction to water resources • 1.1 Water resources • 1.2 China’s emerging water crisis • 1.3 Win-win solutions to mitigate water scarcity • 1.4 Climate Change and Water Scarcity • 1.5 Solutions to reduce water consumption • 1.6 Sustainable water use • 2. water footprint • 2.1 Definition • 2.2 Calculation • 3. Green economy and water resources • 3.1 Role of water in Green Economies • 3.2 Measuring progress towards a green economy

  3. 1. Introduction to water resources1.1 Water Resources

  4. If there is magic on this planet, it is in water. • ----Loren Eisley • Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over. ---Mark Twain • The best virtue is like water, and friendly water benefits all things of the creation. 上善若水，水善利万物， • No things of creation are more flexible and weaker than water, but no things posses the stronger ability of attacking the solid and firm than water which nothing be able to replace . 天下柔弱莫过于水，而攻坚强者莫之能先，其无以易之。 ---老子(Lao Zi ,～571-491 BC,Well Known Ancient Philosopher) 道经八章，德经七十八章(Scripture of Daode, chapter eight and seventy eight) Go back to ancient philosopher

  5. Why the planet is blue?

  6. Global Water Resources • Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful. • Total amount of water at the Earth’s surface: 1408.7×106 km3 • China with 21% of world’s population has only 7% of the supply. • However, Canada, with only 0.5% of the world population, has 20% of world’s fresh water. • unevenly distribution of fresh water in the world. • The world’s fresh water supply is continuously collected, purified, recycled, and distributed in the solar powered hydraulic cycle.

  7. Water Cycle • The water cycle is made up of a few main parts: • evaporation (and transpiration) • Condensation • Precipitation • collection

  8. Water Cycle

  9. Water Resources • Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. • Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water. • 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water. • only 3% is fresh water. • slightly over two thirds of this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. • The remaining unfrozen freshwater is found mainly as groundwater, with only a small fraction present above ground or in the air.

  10. Source: USGS

  11. Sustainable Development Population & Urbanization Environmental policies and management Water Resources Water Quantity Water Quality Supply---Demand Pollution prevention/control Sustainable Water Management • The Notion of Scientific Development • GGDP Accounting for Sustainable Development

  12. Surface water The water from the precipitation or melting ice that does not sink into the ground or evaporate into the air runs off into water bodies one of our most precious resources. About two thirds of the world’s annual runoff is lost by seasonal floods and is not available for human use. The remaining one-third is reliable runoff: the amount of runoff that we can generally count on as a stable source of water. Surface Water and Groundwater

  13. Groundwater The precipitation infiltrates the ground, and stores in or percolates downward through pores, fractures, crevices and other spaces in soil, and rock. Groundwater found within 1 kilometer of the earth’s surface contains more than 100 times all the water found in the world’s rivers, streams, fresh water lakes and reservoirs combined. There is a hydrological connection between groundwater and surface water. Thus if we disrupt the hydrological cycle by exploiting groundwater faster than it is replenished, some nearby streams, lakes and wetlands can dry up. Surface Water and Groundwater

  14. Cloud from oceans and lands Nature’s endowment - global hydraulic cycle (1)

  15. World’s reliable fresh water supply and how do we use it? • Human is using more than half of world’s reliable runoff of surface water and could be using 70- 90% by 2025. • Irrigation is the biggest user of water(70%) followed by industries(20%), and cities and residences(10%). According to the UN’s data, the daily minimum amount of water needed to support three fourths of the world’s people is equal to the amount of water used each day to irrigate the world’s golf courses. !!!

  16. The ‘Golf disaster’ in China • It was estimated that there were 34 thousand golf courses (note: the number is growing!! ) in the world, among them 2 thousand in Japan. A rough calculation as follows: • Water consumption: Q=34000×（2000--2500）m3/d = (0.068—0.085) billion m3/d; • least livelihood water consumption is q=(0.01—0.02) m3/capita.d; • -----Roughly, equivalent to the p= Q/q=(4.3—6.8)billion people’s least daily water consumption of the world.

  17. The ‘Golf disaster’ • It was also estimated that there were sixty golf courses in Beijing in 2010, which used up 0.15 million cubic meter water per day, which may support one million people’s daily needs,. in this water shortage city. • Water pollution: A typical golf course uses up a variety of chemicals to maintain the grass lands, which include N-P fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, etc. • Anyway the golf is the game only for a few people’s enjoyment, it must formulate serious policies to control its disordered growth. Source: Prof. Lu Yongsen

  18. Water is a scarce resource (why?) Why?:**Dry climate, drought, too great population consumption and wasteful use cause water scarcity. • 1. Currently about one out of six people do not have access to an adequate and affordable supply of clean water, and this could increase to at least one out of four people in the world by 2025. • 2. We can increase water supplies by building dams, bringing in water from elsewhere • e.g. long distance—trans-basin channeling water, • withdrawing groundwater, • converting salt water to fresh water, • wasting less water, and importing food, but their functions are limited.

  19. Water is a scarce resource(why?) Why?:**Dry climate, drought, too great population consumption and wasteful use cause water scarcity. • 3. Large dams and reservoirs can • produce cheap and ‘clean’ electricity, • reduce downstream flooding, • and provide year-round water for irrigating cropland and domestic use, • but they also disrupt aquatic systems and bring about environmental risks. • Because of evaporation and seepage, some dams lose more water than they provide. • 4. People’s misunderstanding: water is inexhaustible resource and can be consumed infinitely.

  20. Trade-offs of large dams and reservoir--- advantages and disadvantages

  21. Water is a scarce resource (why?) • 4. Most groundwater aquifers are renewable unless the water is withdrawn or removed faster than it is replenished or become contaminated. • 5. Deep aquifers (found at depths below 800 m or more )supply more water are being evaluated by scientists, that maybe a solution of water scarcity. • Two major concerns about tapping these deposits: • we know little about the geological and ecological risks or impact of the consequences; • and no international treaties govern the rights to and ownership of water underlying several countries. (transboundary groundwater)

  22. Water is a scarce resource (why?) 6. Desalination of seawater as special cases in solving water shortage (cost, energy issue). 7. Wasteful use and pollution have greatly exacerbated and intensified the water scarcity. 8. Reducing wasteful use or enhancing the efficiencies of water and exploiting new approaches to combat water shortages.

  23. 1.2 China’s emerging water crisis

  24. China’s emerging water crisis • China’s renewable water resources amount to about 2,841 km3/year, the sixth largest in the world. • Per capita availability: 2,156 m3/yr (2007)- is only 1/4 of the world average (8,549 m3/yr) and among the lowest for a major country. • While China as a whole is facing serious water stress, its problems are made more severe by the fact that its water resources are unevenly distributed, both spatially and temporally. Source: World Bank

  25. China’s emerging water crisis • China’s water resources availability varies greatly over space. • The South, with average rainfall of over 2,000 mm/year, is more water abundant than the North, where rainfall only averages about 200-400 mm/year. • Per capita water availability in northern China is only 757 m3/year, less than one-fourth that in southern China, one-eleventh of the world average, and less than the threshold level of 1,000 m3/year commonly defined as “water scarcity.” Source: World Bank

  26. China’s emerging water crisis • The temporal pattern of precipitation further intensifies the uneven spatial distribution of water resources. • With a strong monsoonal climate, China is subject to highly variable rainfall that contributes to frequent droughts and floods, often simultaneously in different regions. Guilin Xi’ an Dalian Lanzhou

  27. Water shortage in China

  28. Water shortage in China

  29. Distribution of seven river basins of China

  30. The challenges of water resources in China 1) Flooding Achievements: Over sixty year’s development in water conservancy and flooding control, the frequency of flooding and inundation has been greatly reduced. Problems: Because of rapid growth in economic intensity and population density and weak in integrated management, the damage of each disaster is increasing, e.g. the loss from flooding and inundation was ～10 billion Yuan/a before 2000, however, it has risen rapidly in recent years. c

  31. The challenges of water resources in China • 2) Drought, water shortage and inefficient use • (1) The characteristics of drought in China • Climate: mostly Asian monsoon area. • Precipitation: unevenly distributed forming obvious regional characteristics of drought (or flooding ). • (2) Critical issues of drought disaster in China • The total area vulnerable to drought disaster is larger than that suffered from flooding and inundation, reaching 208.5 thousand km2. • The frequency of the drought is higher than other natural disasters. • Drought is the most harmful disaster to agriculture.

  32. Resource distribution Water resources situation in China

  33. Redlines for water consumption in China • 2009 ---590 billion m3 • 2015--- 620 billion m3 • 2015---water reuse percentage is 10%

  34. Water shortage in China Rainwater collection in Guangxi River bed Shrinking area of rivers

  35. The challenges of water resources in China • 3) distribution of water resources is incompatible to the distributions of other important resources • The distributions of China’s water resources are uneven; • The south China has more resources than the north China, and the east more than the west; • extremely incompatible to the distribution of population, arable land and mineral resources. • The population in the five areas (Songliaohe River, Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, inland rivers areas) in north China accounts for 46.5% of the whole population of China, arable land accounts for 40% of the total, GDP makes up 45.2% of the whole country, but water resources amount to only 19%. • Source: FDI

  36. Precipitation generally declines from the southeastern coast to the northwestern highlands. • Precipitation varies greatly from year to year and from season to season. Source: Sherwood Institute

  37. Case: South-to-North water diversion project

  38. China's South-to-North water diversion project • The major strategic of South-to-North Water diversion project is to alleviate serious water resources shortage situation in northern china. • There is frequent flood in South China and drought in the north. • The South-to-North Water Diversion Project allocates water resources rationally, greatly alleviating the serious shortage of water resources in North China. • Promoting and coordinating the development of the north and south economy.

  39. The length of Midline Route Project is 1277 km Middle Route Project • Starts from Danjiangkou Reservoir • Along Henan and Hebei • To Beijing ,Tianjing… • Length: 1277 km • 13.0 billion cubic meters annually

  40. Eastern Route Project • Starts from Yangzhou(Jiangsu), • along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal • to Tianjing, Jinan, Qingdao... • 14.8 billion cubic meters annually

  41. Ecological Impacts of South-to-north water diversion project ——Improve the ecology, environmental, and water condition in North • Improve the situation of water shortage • Save groundwater in the North. • Protect the local wetland and biodiversity • Improve the quality of local drinking water in the North. • Question: Any negative impact? (water quality, ecosystem, climate change, seawater intrusion) • Homework: What is the impact of the South-to-north water diversion project in China?

  42. Case: Three Gorges Project

  43. Profile • The Three Gorges Dam- the world‘s largest dam, is located in the Three Gorges region in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. It is situated at Sandouping Island in Hubei province , China. • The Three Gorges Reservoir Area is situated in the lower section of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, within E106°–115°50′, N29°16′–31°25′. • It encompasses 26 cities or counties in Chongqing municipality and Hubei province, covering a total area of 57,802 km2 with a total population of 20.1 million.

  44. Profile • The dam is 185 m high. • Installed 32 hydropower units, the capacity of each unit is 700,000 kilowatts. • The Three Gorges Project began in 1993 and was completed in 2009. • It plays a fundamental role in controlling frequent catastrophic floods downstream, generating hydropower and improving navigation at the upper reaches of the Yangtze.

  45. Ecological Influences • Effectively control the upstream flood. Improve the flood control capacity in middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Relief ecological destruction brought by the floods. • Use clean hydro power to generate electricity may reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide and other harmful gases. • Increase the water flow and improve water quality in dry season in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Provide water resource for South-to-North Water Diversion Project……. • Question (Homework): What is the impact of Three Gorges Project on Ecosystem? (submit to hongtao@tongji.edu.cn before 20 April, 2013)

  46. 1.3 Win-win solutions to mitigate water scarcity

  47. Win-win solutions to mitigate water scarcity • It was estimated by the World Resources Institute that about two thirds of the water we use were wasted through extravagant consumption, evaporation, leaks, and other losses. • The policy leverage for win-win solutions to mitigate water scarcity: • Raising the prices of water resources, especially groundwater; • Reducing the subsidies in the sectors of wasteful use of water, e.g. flood irrigation, uncontrolled domestic and industrial water uses ; • Subsidies for improving the efficiency of water use; • Trans-boundary share in water resources with win-win cooperation and • more other measures. (your opinion?) • Technological innovation for water saving, water reuse, recycle and reclamation.

  48. 1.4 Climate Change and Water Scarcity

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