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It is now common knowledge that many water resources stresses relate to access to water within a basin. Yi River Basin, a typical river basin characterized by intensive agricultural processes, significant population growth, and water management, has been undergoing grave water problems. In this paper, the long-term trend of precipitation and streamflow in Yi River Basin, from 1964 to 2010, was investigated via Mann-Kendall test. The change point occurred in the year 1965 dividing the long-term series into two periods. Climate elasticity method and linear regression method were implemented to quantify the impact of precipitation and human activities on runoff and presented basically consistent results of the percentage change in an annual runoff for the postchange period. The results reveal that the decline of annual runoff in postchange period is mainly attributed to precipitation variability of 53.66–58.25% and human activities of 46.34–41.74%, as estimated by climate elasticity method and linear regression method, respectively. This study detected the changes in the precipitation-streamflow relationship and investigated the possible causes in the Yi River, which will be helpful for providing a reference for the management of regional water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation data from 30 stations in the Huaihe River basin (HRB), a climatic transitional zone in east China, were used to investigate the spatiotemporal variability and trends of extreme precipitation on multitimescales for the period 1961–2010. Results indicated that (1) the spatial pattern of the annual precipitation, rainy days, extreme precipitation, and maximum daily precipitations shows a clear transitional change from the south (high) to the north (low) in the HR; it confirmed the conclusion that the HRB is located in the transitional zone of the 800 mm precipitation contour in China, where the 800 mm precipitation contour is considered as the geographical boundary of the south and the north. (2) Higher value of the extreme precipitation intensity mainly occurs in the middle of the east and the central part of the basin; it reveals a relatively distinct west-east spatial disparity, and this is not in line with the spatial pattern of the extreme precipitation total, the sum of the precipitation in 95th precipitation days. (3) Annual precipitation of 22 stations exhibits increasing trend, and these 22 stations are located from the central to the northern part. There is no significant trend detected for the seasonal precipitation. The summer precipitation exhibits a larger change range; this might cause the variation of the flood and drought in the HBR. However, the increasing trend in winter precipitation may be beneficial to the relief of winter agricultural drought. Rainy days in 12 stations, mostly located in and around the central northeastern part, experienced significant decreasing trend. Extreme precipitation days and precipitation intensity have increasing trends, but no station with significant change trend is detected for the maximum precipitation of the basin. (4) The spatiotemporal variability in the HRB is mainly caused by the geographic differences and is largely influenced by the interdecadal variations of East Asian Summer Monsoon in eastern China. The output of this paper could provide references for the practical decision making and integrated basin management of Huaihe River basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In ecologically fragile areas with arid climate, such as the Heihe River Basin in northwestern China, sustainable social and economic development depends largely on the availability and sustainable uses of water resource. However, there is more and more serious water resource shortage and decrease of water productivity in Heihe River Basin under the influence of climate change and human activities. This paper attempts to identify the severe water scarcity under climate change and presents possible solutions for sustainable development in Heihe River Basin. Three problems that intervened land use changes, water resource, the relevant policies and institutions in Heihe River basin were identified, including (1) water scarcity along with serious contradiction between water supply and demand, (2) irrational water consumption structure along with low efficiency, and (3) deficient systems and institutions of water resource management along with unreasonable water allocation scheme. In this sense, we focused on reviewing the state of knowledge, institutions, and successful practices to cope with water scarcity at a regional extent. Possible solutions for dealing with water scarcity are explored and presented from three perspectives: (1) scientific researches needed by scientists, (2) management and institution formulation needed by governments, and (3) water resource optimal allocation by the manager at all administrative levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]