Addressing China's Growing Water Shortages And Associated Social And Environmental Consequences

Abstract

China has experienced transformation from an agricultural based economy to the manufacturing workshop of the world on a scale and rapidity that is unprecedented. The associated relocation of the population from relatively low density rural areas to very high density urban areas is having a significant impact on the quantity and quality of water available as inputs into the production and consumption process, as well as the ability of the water system to absorb and neutralize the waste byproducts deposited into it. Water shortages are most severe in the north of the country, where surface water diversion is excessive and groundwater is being depleted. In addition, the quality of water is deteriorating because of pollution, thereby aggravating existing water shortages.1 This paper was prepared as a background note for the World Bank Report by Yusuf, Shahid entitled, "China's Development Priorities" (forthcoming 2006). Comments on earlier draft were provided by Douglas C. Olson and Daniel Gunaratnam. 2 I would like to acknowledge the substantial research assistance provided by Tomoko Okano.

Assessing environmental risks for high intensity agriculture using the material flow analysis method —a case study of the Dongting Lake basin in South Central China

“…As a result, agriculture and the environment are facing unprecedented challenges and risks, including emissions of greenhouse gases, loss of biodiversity, and degradation of land and freshwater (Shalizi 2006;Guo et al 2010). These challenges may increase in the future because food production emissions will inevitably continue to grow in the coming years, for the National Development and Reform Commission has planned to stabilize food production and increase meat supply to satisfy China's increasing food demand (Lin et al 2015).…”

“…The use of pesticides in plant protection is common to prevent major agricultural crop losses, but one of the major disadvantages of pesticide use is the potential human health risk caused by the presence of residues in, for example, fresh produce (Delcour et al 2015). Water scarcity constitutes a major problem in China, because the water availability per capita is only a quarter of the world's average (Shalizi 2006). However, the size of irrigated areas has rapidly increased in recent decades, from 45 million ha in 1979-1981 to 61.7 million ha in 2011.…”

Wheat and maize relay-planting with straw covering increases water use efficiency up to 46 %

“…For example, in northwestern China, average freshwater availability is about 760 m 3 per capita per year, a level that is 25 % below the internationally accepted threshold of water scarcity (Shalizi 2006). Annual precipitation is between 50 and 150 mm, while annual evaporation is between 2100 and 2400 mm.…”

Adaptive Effectiveness of Irrigated Area Expansion in Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change on Crop Yields in Northern China

“…This means that irrigated area data do not reflect the actual accessibility of irrigation water, even though the data of irrigated area is the current primary data to quantify irrigation level. Agricultural water shortage growing in magnitude and frequency in the current [24] and future [25] climate is the main reason. Second, the household contract system was created in 1979, and the use rights of farmland were evenly distributed to the farmers by group farmland ownership [26].…”