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Trade-offs between midstream agricultural production and downstream ecological sustainability in the Heihe River basin in the past half century

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  • Lu, Zhixiang
  • Wei, Yongping
  • Xiao, Honglang
  • Zou, Songbing
  • Ren, Juan
  • Lyle, Clive

Abstract

There is a knowledge gap and limited tools to readily identify trade-off relationships between competing economic and environmental goals, and between the upstream and downstream areas, of river basins. In this paper we aim to construct the trade-off relationship between midstream agricultural development and downstream ecosystem sustainability at the basin scale, using the Heihe River basin as an example. An improved top–down method was developed to understand the impacts of land use change on catchment hydrology. Based on this, trade-off relationships between cereal production in the midstream area and the runoff flowing downstream, and between cereal production in the midstream area and ecosystem service values in the downstream area, were constructed. The results showed that from 1960 to 2000 every 1000t of increased cereal production in the midstream area (Zhangye catchment) was at the expense of 0.52 million m3 of runoff flowing to downstream and $0.052 million of ecosystem service values in the downstream area (Ejina oasis). The analysis also showed that water productivity increased six-fold in the recent study period which greatly offset the trade-off impacts on downstream ecosystem sustainability. Linking conventional trade-off analysis involving competing economic and environmental goals to a simplified hydrological model and remote sensing image analysis to determine land use is a useful tool for integrated river basin management and will enable more transparent, informed, and inclusive water governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, Zhixiang & Wei, Yongping & Xiao, Honglang & Zou, Songbing & Ren, Juan & Lyle, Clive, 2015. "Trade-offs between midstream agricultural production and downstream ecological sustainability in the Heihe River basin in the past half century," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 233-242.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:152:y:2015:i:c:p:233-242
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2015.01.022
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    Cited by:

    1. Guofeng Wang & Nan Lin & Xiaoxue Zhou & Zhihui Li & Xiangzheng Deng, 2018. "Three-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis of Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Yuan, Shiwei & Li, Xin & Du, Erhu, 2021. "Effects of farmers’ behavioral characteristics on crop choices and responses to water management policies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    3. Li, Guifang & Shi, Minjun & Zhou, Dingyang, 2021. "How much will farmers be compensated for water reallocation from agricultural water to the local ecological sector on the edge of an oasis in the Heihe River Basin?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    4. Jian Tao & Yujie Xie & Haoyuan Zhou & Yuqian Xu & Guangshuai Zhao, 2022. "Cross-County Characteristics of Water–Ecology–Economy Coupling Coordination in the Wuding River Watershed, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Haiming Yan & Wei Li & Huicai Yang & Xiaonan Guo & Xingran Liu & Wenru Jia, 2021. "Estimation of the Rational Range of Ecological Compensation to Address Land Degradation in the Poverty Belt around Beijing and Tianjin, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-12, December.

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