A simple approach to assess water scarcity integrating water quantity and quality |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Ecological Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Jiroft, Kerman, Iran;2. Department of Geography, University of Jiroft, Kerman, Iran;3. Department of Nature Engineering, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran;4. Faculty of Physics, University of Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany;1. Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Ministry of Education, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University. Kaifeng, 475001, China;2. Henan Key Laboratory of Earth System Observation and Modeling, Henan University. Kaifeng, 475001, China;3. Henan Overseas Expertise Introduction Center for Discipline Innovation (Ecological Protection and Rural Revitalization along the Yellow River);4. School of Government, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China;5. Institute of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China;6. School of Public Policy and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;7. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Planning and Policy Simulation, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, Beijing, 100012, China.;8. The Center for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Regional Environment and ecology, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, Beijing 100012, China;9. State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;10. Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China |
| |
| Abstract: | Water scarcity has become widespread all over the world. Current methods for water scarcity assessment are mainly based on water quantity and seldom consider water quality. Here, we develop a simple approach for assessing water scarcity considering both water quantity and quality. In this approach, a new water scarcity index is used to describe the severity of water scarcity in the form of a water scarcity meter, which may help to communicate water scarcity to a wider audience. To illustrate the approach, we analyzed the historical trend of water scarcity for Beijing city in China during 1995–2009. The results show that Beijing made a huge progress in mitigating water scarcity, and that from 1999 to 2009 the blue and grey water scarcity index decreased by 59% and 62%, respectively. These achievements were made through great efforts of water-saving measures and wastewater treatment. Despite this progress, we demonstrate that Beijing is still characterized by serious water scarcity due to both water quantity and quality. The water scarcity index remained at a high value of 3.5 with a blue and grey water scarcity index of 1.2 and 2.3 in 2009 (exceeding the thresholds of 0.4 and 1, respectively). As a result of unsustainable water use and pollution, groundwater levels continue to decline, and water quality shows a continuously deteriorating trend. To curb this trend, future water policies should further decrease water withdrawal from local sources (in particular groundwater) within Beijing, and should limit the grey water footprint below the total amount of water resources. |
| |
| Keywords: | Water scarcity meter Water scarcity index Grey water footprint Beijing China |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
