Implications for water management in alpine inland river basins: Evidence from stable isotopes and remote sensing

• Published in: Ecological indicators Vol. 154; p. 110580
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhigang, Cao, Shengkui, Cao, Guangchao, Hou, Yaofang, Wang, Youcai, Kang, Ligang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: Remote sensing; Stable isotopes; Vegetation zones; Water cycle; Water management; Vegetation zones; Water management; Stable isotopes; Remote sensing; Water cycle
• ISSN: 1470-160X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110580

•Systematically revealing catchment-scale water surplus and loss.•Delineate the watershed water resources protection area.•A strategy for water resources management in alpine inland river basins is proposed.•Improving ecological quality is an important guarantee for maintaining water security. Elucidating the water surplus and loss of different vegetation landscapes in cold regions is important for the conservation and management of water resources in alpine inland rivers. As such, this study is to systematically reveal the water variation in different vegetation landscape zones of the alpine inland river basin, delineate its water resources protection zones, and propose its water resources management strategies. In addition, the study confirms that stable isotope and remote sensing techniques can quantify the variations of water surplus and loss in different vegetation zones of the Qinghai Lake Shaliu River basin, and identifies the alpine desert zone as an important water-producing zone, the alpine meadow zone as an important water storage zone, and the alpine steppe zone as the main water-consuming zone of the basin. At the same time, the alpine meadow zone was also the area with the strongest evapotranspiration. The variations of water surplus and loss in different vegetation zones depended significantly on elevation, and the quality of ecological environment profoundly affected the water holding capacity of the basin. Therefore, according to the variations of water surplus and loss in different vegetation zones of the basin, the alpine desert zone and the alpine meadow zone were the important water resources core protection areas for water production and storage in the basin, and the alpine steppe zone was the general water resources protection area in the basin. The results of this study indicated that the water resources management strategy of alpine inland river basin should be a composite model that improves the quality of ecological environment and combines core protection of water resources in the middle and upper reaches with effective management of water resources in the lower reaches.