| Title: | The assessment of green water based on the SWAT model: A case study in the Hai River Basin, China |
| Authors: | Zhu, K., Z. Xie, Y. Zhao, F. Lu, X. Song, L. Li and X. Song |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Journal: | Water |
| Volume (Issue): | 10 |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 798 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/w10060798 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic only |
| Primary Application Category: | blue, green and/or gray water, or crop water productivity |
| Secondary Application Category: | hydrologic assessment |
| Watershed Description: | 318,000 km^2 Hai River, located in northeast China. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | Green water accounts for two-thirds of precipitation, and the proportion could be even
higher in dry years. Conflicts between water supply and demand have gradually become severe in
the Hai River Basin (HRB) due to the socio-economic development. Thus, the exploitation and the
utilization of green water have attracted increasing attention. By gathering the related hydrological,
meteorological, and geographic data, the spatiotemporal distribution of green water in HRB and the
impacts of land use types on green water are analyzed based on the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment
Tool) model in this study. Furthermore, three new indices are proposed for evaluation, including
the maximum possible storage of green water (MSGW), the consumed green water (CGW), and the
utilizable green water (UGW). The results show that (1) the MSGW is relatively low in plain areas and
its spatial distribution is significantly associated with the soil type; (2) according to the evaluation
results of CGW and UGW in HRB, a further improvement of utilization efficiency of green water
could be achieved; (3) in general, the utilization efficiency of precipitation in farmlands is higher than
other land use types, which means that the planting of appropriate plants could be helpful to enhance
the utilization efficiency of green water. Our results summarize the spatiotemporal distribution of
green water resource and provide a reference for water resources management in other water-short
agricultural areas. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | maximum possible storage of green water; consumed green water; utilizable green water;
water-deficient |