Evaluation of the water resource reproducible ability on Tarim River Basin in south of Xinjiang, northwest China

With the over-exploitation of water resources, water pollution and poor management of water infrastructures are exacerbated. Ecosystem degradation is apparent at the basin level. The Tarim River Basin in northwest China has seen intensive confrontation between environmental protection and economic development over the past five decades. Ambitious agricultural development and land reclamation projects implemented by the Chinese government in the early 1960s led to several influences. For example, the construction of dams like the Daxihaizi Reservoir disrupted the stream-flow to the lower reaches. Water resource reproducible ability (WRRA) refers to the ability of water resources to be continually added by the natural water cycle. It includes the supplementation of water quantity and the self-purification of water quality in the natural cycle of water resources. This study discusses the WRRA index and introduces the computational method for calculating the WRRA index for the Tarim River Basin. The following conclusions are observed: (1) from 1956 to 2005, the indices of WRRA in the Hotan River Basin, Yarkand and Aksu River Basin are 0.26, 0.55, 0.58, respectively, which are between 0 and 1. The results indicate that the hydrological cycle in these three sub-basins is in a reproducible state. (2) The WRRA index in the Kaidu-Kong River Basin is 1.23 > 1, which indicates that floods may occur in the Kaidu-Kong River Basin. (3) The index of WRRA in the main stream is 0, which indicates that the WRRA is very weak at this location, and zero-flow may occur. Calculating the WRRA of a basin can provide a basis for corresponding basin water resources management.