The variation and utilization of water resources in the Heihe River basin

The Heihe River basin, draining an area nearly 130,000 km(2), is the second largest inland river basin in China. The upper reach, namely the Qilian mountainous area, is the formation area of runoff and water resources. The method of time series analysis is applied to annual runoff series to analyze the dynamic variation of headstreams. The results show that the variation of the runoff is slightly decreased. The plains in the middle reach are the main consumptive regions of water resources in the basin. The time series analysis method is also applied to the annual runoff series. It shows there is a significant decreasing trend and it indicates an over-consumption of water resources in this area. A historical analysis proves this. Also, the irrational utilization of water resources has caused a series of detrimental environmental effects, which are summarized as water environment change, land desertification and salinization, and vegetation degeneracy. A water consumption model of the mainstream area is established to analyze the characteristics of water consumption in the middle reach. The simulated result shows that water consumption increases by about 1040 x 10(4) m(3) /yr on average.