China’s inter-basin water management in the context of regional water shortage

Because of the uneven temporal and spatial distribution of water resources, regional water resources shortages have become increasingly important in China. Therefore, how to effectively use water resources is one of the hottest issues China needs to address in the future. Although China’s central and local governments always attached great importance to the planning and management of water resources, for a long time, they were mainly focused on watershed management. However, because the geographical distribution of water resources in China is seriously imbalanced, watershed management cannot completely solve the problem of water resources shortage. This study shows that the key to solving such a problem is the implementation of inter-basin water management across the country or in larger areas, where there is an uneven distribution of water resources. This paper demonstrates that inter-basin water management has more advantages than basin water management only, as the allocation space of the water resources is greater, and there is greater regulation and water storage capacity. Because inter-basin water management provides an overall assessment of different basins, it may optimally transfer and save water resources. In seasonal flooding areas, inter-basin water storage will significantly improve the efficiency of water resources utilization. Therefore, China plans to optimally allocate the inter-basin water resources. At the same time, China should continue to build a good inter-basin compensation and management mechanism.