Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources and Adaptive Management: Case Study in North China

This paper addresses the water issues in China and climate change impact on water resources vulnerability and adaptive management. China is one of the thirteen water poor countries all around the world. Particularly, the East China monsoon area, with a dense population, has witnessed a more serious imbalance of water resources between supply and demand. In addition, drought and waterlogging frequently occur in East China monsoon area. Under the circumstances of climate change; drought aggravation in the northern region, water ecological deterioration, and the increasing extreme flood disaster in the southern region severely restricted the sustainable development of the economy and society during the past 30 years. The future climate change will have great influence on the existing pattern of 'north drought and south flooding' in China and the water resources distribution in the near future, and consequently, exert some unexpected influence on the effects of major engineering projects in China, including food increasing project in North and Northeast China, water transfer project, flood control system planning of southern rivers etc. To deal with the negative impact of climate change, adaptive water management is addressed. Some of the basic research are emphasised, such as (1) the spatial-temporal variability and uncertainty of water cycle components under climate change; (2) Interaction and feedback mechanism between land surface hydrology and regional climate; (3) Vulnerability and sustainability of water resources under climate change. Some of research and case studies in China are given as explanation on this study.