Water Resource Assessment Based on Ecological Footprint in Beijing City, China

Abstract

Beijing is now facing the intense water shortage problem. Evaluation of regional water resources capacity provides a scientific basis for further water resources utilization and social economic sustainable development. This study mainly focused on assessing the water resource carrying capacity in Beijing during the period from 1980 to 2011. The results indicated that the domestic and environmental water resource ecological footprint showed increasing trend, whereas agricultural and industrial water resource ecological footprint showed decreasing trend. The total water resource ecological footprint increased from 6.5×106 hm2 in 2011 to 6.8×106 hm2 in 2015 and 9.1×106 hm2 in 2020, respectively. Even taking the South-to North water transfer project, the water supply still not meet the serious water demand in Beijing with 10×108 hm3 of water shortage in 2020. Moreover, policies for reducing the water resource ecological footprint and increasing the water resource carrying capacity were put forward.