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Lakes are sensitive indicators of climatic change and are important resources for regional economic development. In recent years, there have been many studies related to the changes in lake area and lake volume. However, further studies are still required to understand the responses of lakes to climatic change and human activities. This paper utilizes lakes in the Qaidam Basin, an inland arid region of China, as the object of study and investigates the characteristics of variability in lake changes and its driving forces by combining multi-source remote sensing, model simulations and historical data. We first analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern of climatic change in the basin under the background of global warming. The response of lake water volume to climatic change and human activities is then discussed. Finally, the main factors that affect the change in lake water volume in different regions of the basin are delineated. The water volume of lakes in the Qaidam Basin increased by 3.81 km3 from 1990 to 2020. Particularly since the 21st century, the water volume of lakes has increased rapidly, and an increasingly abrupt change appeared around 2015. The increases in precipitation and vegetation area are the main and secondary factors that led to the increase in total lake water volume in the basin, respectively. However, the main influencing factors still vary in different regions. The impact of air temperature, evaporation, and changes in the cropland area on the change in lake water volume is generally not obvious. Human activities, such as the development of salt lakes and damming, have led to substantial changes in the spatial pattern of lakes in the middle of the basin and are associated with the replacement, genesis, and disappearance of Yiliping Lake, Yahu Lake and West Taijinar Lake, respectively. This study reveals the changing characteristics of climate and lake water volume in inland arid basins in China, which are highly important to understand the responses of lakes to climatic change and human activities, and provides a scientific basis for the rational development and utilization of lake resources in arid basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on precipitation regularity in the past 120 years is an important link in analyzing the precipitation characteristics of watersheds. This paper systematically analyzes the characteristic changes of centennial precipitation data in the Haihe River basin with the help of CRU data, PCI, SPI, and the Pearson type III curve. The results show that the spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation in the Haihe River basin has a more obvious inconsistency. The temporal distribution shows the characteristics of relatively stable in the early period and increasing fluctuation in the later period, the concentration of precipitation gradually decreases, and the overall drought level decreases. The spatial distribution shows a general pattern of gradually decreasing from southwest to northeast, the overall trend of summer precipitation changes from stable to north–south extremes, and the distribution probability of extreme precipitation events in the basin decreases from southeast to northwest, while the drought-prone area transitions from the northeast to the west and southwest of the basin. Under the influence of both climate change and human activities, the seasonal distribution of precipitation tends to be average, the area affected by extreme precipitation rises, and the arid area shifts to the inland area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological water diversion project in the Heihe River Basin is the first successful case in China in which the ecological systems in a river basin have been rescued. This project serves as a valuable example for the management of ecosystems in other inland river basins.This paper reviews the integrated studies of the water-ecosystem-economy relationship in the Heihe River Basin and concludes that sustainable development in inland river basins requires the basin to be considered as a whole, with the relationships between the upstream, midstream and downstream areas of the basin coordinated appropriately. Successful development in these basins will be reflected in an improved output per cubic meter of water and the implementation of integrated river basin management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River is one of the major rivers with severe runoff declines in China, but there are significant differences in runoff changes in the upper and lower reaches of the basin and among different tributaries. However, the characteristic of runoff change and its spatial heterogeneity are not well understood in the whole basin. In this paper, 48 hydrological stations located in the mainstream and major tributaries were selected, and the meteorological and runoff data from 1956 to 2017 were collected. The multi-year and intra-year changes in runoff were analyzed, and then the attribution of climate change and human activity to runoff change was quantified by the climate elasticity coefficients. The results showed that: (1) in the past 60 years, the runoff of the Yellow River showed a serious decrease trend of −8.25 mm/10a. Moreover, most tributaries decreased significantly in runoff with a rate of −1.42 mm/10a to −28.99 mm/10a; (2) for the whole basin, the contribution of climate change and human activity to runoff changes was 13% and 87%, respectively. Moreover, the contribution of the two factors varied considerably in different tributaries. Finally, focusing on different runoff regime and socioeconomic characteristics, this study provided corresponding water resources adaptive management suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hanjiang River, as a water donor basin, plays a fundamental role in supporting water supply security in northern China while maintaining the health and stability of ecosystems within the basin. However, the combined influence of climate change and anthropogenic interference has resulted in a significant change in the flow regime of the basin, challenging the sustainability of the river system. In order to understand the impact of the above factors on the river runoff, we analyzed the temporal and spatial pattern of runoff and climate factors in the basin and quantitatively assessed the contribution of climate change and human activities to the change in runoff using the elasticity coefficient method. Our results indicate that annual runoff has experienced a significant downward trend over the past 60 years, which is projected to continue into the future. It is also found that the temporal pattern of the runoff regime differed upstream and downstream of the Danjiangkou Reservoir due to the joint operation of the reservoir and China's Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion (MRP-SNWD). A significant decrease in runoff was primarily attributed to human activities, followed by precipitation. In contrast, evapotranspiration had the least effect. In particular, the MRP-SNWD was a significant anthropogenic factor, contributing to about 20.3% of the total change in runoff. Our results highlighted the unfavorable effects of human activity on the hydrological system in the Hanjiang River and provided some constructive suggestions to turn vulnerability into resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Soil erosion and sediment transport are often induced by a few extreme precipitation events. Currently, there is limited information on the effects of changes in precipitation extremes on river sediment load over a long time period at the basin scale. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effects of variations in precipitation extremes on sediment load in the Second Songhua River Basin (SSRB), northeast China. Materials and methods: Daily precipitation data from 10 meteorological stations within the SSRB and sediment load data during 1960–2014 from the basin outlet hydrological station were collected. Six extreme precipitation indices, such as erosive precipitation (ERPTOT), wet-day precipitation (PRCPTOT), very wet day precipitation (R95pTOT), flood season precipitation (FSPTOT), maximum 1-day precipitation (RX1day) and heavy precipitation (HP), were used to detect the precipitation extremes. The Mann–Kendall non-parametric trend analysis was used to analyze the dynamic changes in precipitation extremes and sediment load. The double cumulative curve method was used to assess the effects of changes in precipitation extremes on sediment load. Results and discussion: The results indicated that six extreme precipitation indices showed periodic variations from 1960 to 2014, while they did not show any significant change trend in the SSRB (p > 0.05); however, the sediment load showed an extremely significant decreasing trend (p < 0.01) over the past 55 years. Sediment load significantly correlated with six precipitation extremes indices (p < 0.05). Compared with the baseline period (1960–1977), the sediment load was reduced by 1.12 × 106 ton per year (1977–2014). The contribution of precipitation extremes to the sediment load ranged from -22.83% to 6.97%. The corresponding contribution of the non-precipitation factor to sediment load was from 93.03% to 122.83%. Conclusions: The change in precipitation extremes was not the main reason for the sediment load reduction. Sediment load reduction in the SSRB was due to the interactions between multiple factors. Non-precipitation factors, such as reservoir construction, were the main reasons for the sediment load reduction. These findings are useful to understand the variation of river sediment load and to adopt countermeasures to relieve potential risk of precipitation extremes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The rainfall-runoff relationship has changed under climate change and human activities in the TRH region. • The impacts climate indicators of rainfall-runoff ratio in the sub-basins of TRH region were different. • The contribution rates of human activity in the YRB were a little higher than that in the YARB. Identifying the impact of climate change and human activities on rainfall-runoff relationship in the Three-River Headwaters (TRH) region is essential for water source conservation, ecological security, and biodiversity maintenance of China and East Asia. In this paper, the runoff-rainfall ratio was used as the index of rainfall-runoff relationship. Different methods were employed to identify the impact indicators and quantitative assessment of rainfall-runoff relationship from 1957 to 2016. The results are the following: (1) the rainfall-runoff relationship has changed in the source regions of Yangtze River basin (YARB) and Yellow River (YRB), and runoff-rainfall ratio has increased by 2.9% and decreased by 3.2%, respectively; (2) the main climate indicators of runoff-rainfall ratio were rainfall, potential evaporation and sunshine hours in the YARB, and rainfall, potential evaporation and temperature in the YRB; (3) the contribution rates of human activity in the YRB were a little higher than that in the YARB, and the contribution rates of climate change and human activity were 90.9% and 9.1% in the YARB and 42.9% and 57.1% in the YRB. The results can provide invaluable information for managing water resources and taking ecological protection measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baseflow is a critical component of streamflow in arid areas. Determining variations in baseflow and the factors affecting it have positive roles for water resource utilization in arid watersheds. Two watersheds, the Hailiutu River watershed (HLTR) and the Dali River watershed (DLR), located in two different geomorphological regions of the middle Yellow River, were selected for this study. By using the Eckhardt segment method (fourth digital filtering method, DF4), baseflow was separated from streamflow based on its daily data. Mann-Kendall trend test analysis (M-K trend test) was used to test the trends in baseflow change at different times. Complex Morlet wavelet analysis was used to judge baseflow periodicity. Heuristic segmentation and sequential cluster analysis were used to identify the potential change points in the baseflow series for the two regions together with Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed: (1) the annual baseflow of the HLTR and the DLR showed significantly decreasing trends (P < 0.01), more significantly for the HLTR (0.33 × 108 m3) than the DLR (0.20 × 108 m3). The annual base flow index (BFI, baseflow/total streamflow) in the wind-sand region (0.75) was larger than for the loess region (0.55), and the BFI in the wind-sand region was more stable in different periods. (2) The annual baseflow of the HLTR and the DLR both exhibited a complete main cycle of 42 years and 38 years, respectively. The change points of the annual baseflow in the HLTR were 1967 and 1986, and 1971 and 1996 in the DLR. (3) There was no significant change in annual precipitation in the two watersheds, while annual reference evapotranspiration (ET0) in the DLR showed a significant increasing trend (P < 0.01). The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) on the DLR (0.40) was higher than on the HLTR (0.26). (4) Baseflow in the wind-sand region, where vegetation improvement was the only ecological activity, decreased faster than in the loess region where there had been numerous ecological measures such as vegetation improvement, check dams and terraces. This implied that comprehensive measures such as these were helpful in slowing the rate at which the baseflow decreases. Therefore, the effect of ecological construction should be considered in future baseflow studies in other geomorphological types within the Middle Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]