In Yellow River Conservancy Commission. Proceedings, 1st International Yellow River Forum on River Basin Management - Volume II. Zhengzhou, China: The Yellow River Conservancy Publishing Hous

Kendy, E.

Molden, David J.

Steenhuis, Tammo S.

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Combining urban and rural water use for a sustainable North China Plain

Competing demands on limited water resources have resulted in persistent water shortages for the North China Plain. Despite years of effort to mitigate the problem, ground-water levels continue to decline steadily. A quantitative analysis of hydrologic changes affecting Luancheng County, Hebei Province, from 1949 to 2000 identifies crop evapotranspiration as the root cause of water-table declines beneath this ground-water irrigated area. Potential evapotranspiration greatly exceeds precipitation in the North China Plain. For centuries, farmers raised 2-3 rainfed crops every two years. By not using irrigation, the quantity of water taken up by crops was limited by-- and could not exceed-- precipitation. It was not until the proliferation of mechanized wells in the 1960s that farmers could consistently produce 2 crops every year. From the 1970s to the present, actual evapotranspiration from irrigated cropland in Luancheng County has remained constant at about 66 cm/y, compared to an average of about 46 cm/y of rainfall. Ground-water mining provides the additional 20 cm/y to meet crop water requirements, but also depresses the water table about 1 m/y beneath Luancheng County. Attempts to make water use sustainable have centered on improving irrigation efficiency to reduc

Combining urban and rural water use for a sustainable North China Plain

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