Effects of climate change and land-use changes on spatiotemporal distributions of blue water and green water in Ningxia, Northwest China

doi:10.1007/s40333-021-0074-5

Journal of Arid Land

2021, Vol. 13

Issue (7): 674-687 DOI: 10.1007/s40333-021-0074-5 CSTR: 32276.14.s40333-021-0074-5

Research article

Effects of climate change and land-use changes on spatiotemporal distributions of blue water and green water in Ningxia, Northwest China

WU Jun¹^,²^,³, DENG Guoning¹, ZHOU Dongmei¹, ZHU Xiaoyan¹, MA Jing¹, CEN Guozhang¹, JIN Yinli¹, ZHANG Jun¹^,²^,³^,^*(

)

¹College of Resources and Environmental Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
²Research Center for Water-saving Agriculture in Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730070, China
³Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Arid Land Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China

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Abstract

Water resources are a crucial factor that determines the health of ecosystems and socio-economic development; however, they are under threat due to climate change and human activities. The quantitative assessment of water resources using the concept of blue water and green water can improve regional water resources management. In this study, spatiotemporal distributions of blue water and green water were simulated and analyzed under scenarios of climate change and land-use changes using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Northwest China, between 2009 and 2014. Green water, a leading component of water resources, accounted for more than 69.00% of the total water resources in Ningxia. Blue water and green water showed a single peak trend on the monthly and annual scales during the study period. On the spatial scale, the southern region of Ningxia showed higher blue water and green water resources than the northern region. The spatiotemporal distribution features of blue water, green water, and green water flow had strong correlations with precipitation. Furthermore, the simulation identified the climate change in Ningxia to be more influential on blue water and green water than land-use changes. This study provides a specific scientific foundation to manage water resources in Ningxia when encountered with climate change together with human activities.

Key words： blue water green water climate change human activities SWAT semi-arid region

Received: 09 November 2020 Published: 10 July 2021

Corresponding Authors:

About author: *ZHANG Jun (E-mail: zhangjun@gsau.edu.cn)

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	Jun WU
	Guoning DENG
	Dongmei ZHOU
	Xiaoyan ZHU
	Jing MA
	Guozhang CEN
	Yinli JIN
	Jun ZHANG

Cite this article:

WU Jun, DENG Guoning, ZHOU Dongmei, ZHU Xiaoyan, MA Jing, CEN Guozhang, JIN Yinli, ZHANG Jun. Effects of climate change and land-use changes on spatiotemporal distributions of blue water and green water in Ningxia, Northwest China. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(7): 674-687.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-021-0074-5 OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2021/V13/I7/674

Table 1 Scenario setup in three scenarios

Fig. 1 Comparison of the observed monthly runoff and simulated monthly runoff as well as precipitation in Shizuishan hydrological station from 2009 to 2014

Fig. 2 Monthly averages of blue water, green water, and precipitation during the period 2009-2014

Fig. 3 Relationships of precipitation with blue water and green water on the monthly scale

Fig. 4 Average annual blue water, green water, and precipitation during 2009-2014

Fig. 5 Relationships of precipitation with blue water and green water on the annual scale

Fig. 6 Spatial distributions of annual precipitation (a), blue water (b), green water flow (c), green water storage (d), and green water coefficient (e)

Table 2 Simulated average annual blue water due to climate change and land-use changes

Fig. 7 Spatial variability of blue water simulated under different scenarios in Ningxia

Table 3 Simulated average annual green water flow due to climate change and land-use changes

Fig. 8 Spatial variability of green water flow simulated under different scenarios in Ningxia


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