A study of water resource management in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang

Abstract

The Tarim Basin, an important energy and agricultural production base in Northwest China, is a most fragile environment. This paper a) introduces the research results of a study undertaken of Water Resource Management and Desertification Control in the Tarim Basin, and b) analyses the problems of water resource management at both the macro‐ and micro‐levels. The paper outlines a number of proposals that will allow local policy‐makers to increase basin‐wide water use efficiency, control desertification expansion, and improve the sustainable development of the regional economy. The proposals include reforming price regimes, establishing a basin‐wide, water‐right trading system at the macro‐level, and the setting up of a villager‐participant water management system at the micro‐community level.

Keywords:

• The Tarim Basin
• Water resource management
• Desertification control

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on research into the IDRC‐supported project ‘Water Resource Management & Desertification Control in the Tarim Basin’. The authors appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions made by referees and excellent support in the editing of this paper by the Guest Editor, Dr Yu Xiaojiang, at Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University and the Editor Dr Michael Brett‐Crowther. The authors would also like to express their thanks to Ms Qian Jing, of the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), for her kind assistance in helping with information transfer.