Although the quantity of household water consumption does not account for a huge proportion of the total water consumption amidst socioeconomic development, there has been a steadily increasing trend due to population growth and improved urbanization standards. As such, mastering the mechanisms of household water demand, scientifically predicting trends of household water demand, and implementing reasonable control measures are key focuses of current urban water management. Based on the categorization and characteristic analysis of household water, this paper used Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to establish a level and grade theory of household water demand, whereby household water is classified into three levels (rigid water demand, flexible water demand, and luxury water demand) and three grades (basic water demand, reasonable water demand, and representational water demand). An in-depth analysis was then carried out on the factors that influence the computation of household water demand, whereby equations for different household water categories were established, and computations for different levels of household water were proposed. Finally, observational experiments on household water consumption were designed, and observation and simulation computations were performed on three typical households in order to verify the scientific outcome and rationality of the computation of household water demand. The research findings contribute to the enhancement and development of prediction theories on water demand, and they are of high theoretical and realistic significance in terms of scientifically predicting future household water demand and fine-tuning the management of urban water resources.
Drought vulnerability characteristics and risk assessment form the basis of drought risk management. In this study, the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and drought damage rates (DDR) were combined to analyze drought vulnerability characteristics and drought risk in Southwest China (SC). The information distribution method was applied to estimate the probability density of the drought strength (DS) and the two-dimensional normal information diffusion method was used to construct the vulnerability relationships between DS and drought damage (DD). The risk was then evaluated by combining the probability function of the DS and the DD vulnerability curve. The results showed that the relationship between the DS and the DD was nonlinear in SC and its provinces. With the increase in DS, the degree of DD increased gradually, stabilized, or decreased toward the end. However, the vulnerability characteristics of the different provinces varied widely due to multiple risk-bearing bodies and abilities to resist disasters. The risk values obtained across the range of time scales of the SPI were not significantly different. The yielding probabilities will be reduced for the crop area by 10%, 30%, and 70% due to drought. Compared to a normal year in SC, the probability values were 16.04%, 10.29%, and 2.70%, respectively. These results have the potential to provide a reference for agricultural production and drought risk management.
The rise of socio-hydrology, addressing the interactions between human and water systems, is regarded as an innovative perspective to researches achieving the sustainable use of water resources. Revealing the social water fluxes, in terms of magnitude, structure, and variations under changing environment, could advance the understanding of water cycling under the dual driving forces: natural and anthropogenic. This study attempts to formulate the fundamental equations of the social water cycle by focusing on the evolution mechanisms of social water cycle fluxes. The endogenously dynamic characteristics of social water cycling are portrayed, i.e., the gradual change mechanism and the catastrophe mechanism, therefore dividing the evolution processes into four stages. Then, social water cycle flux reaches its peak and completes the first stage of evolution. The evolution process is an S-shaped curve process. After the peak, it enters the next evolutionary stage, where the pattern varies with the intensities of the gradual change mechanism and the catastrophe mechanism. The coordination relationships of these two mechanisms and the fluctuating characteristics in each stage are studied as well. Case studies are investigated in 39 countries globally to verify the fitting of the fundamental equations and evolution mechanisms.
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