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Characteristics and Driving Factors of Drainage Water in Irrigation Districts in Arid Areas

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Abstract

Tarim Basin, the largest inland river basin in China, is facing declining runoff and deteriorating water quality due to agricultural reclamation. In this study, the spatial characteristics of drainage water in Tarim Irrigation District (which is in the upstream of Tarim Basin) are analyzed using long-term drainage, irrigation and agronomic data. The driving factors behind the spatial variations in total dissolved solids (TDS) are discussed along with the feasible approaches to reducing salt loads in the drainage waters. Cluster analysis reveals three distinct TDS clusters — Type-I (7436–9651 mg/l), Type-II (5899–7640 mg/l) and Type-III (3408–4084 mg/l) clusters. The spatial variations in TDS in the study area are not significantly influenced by irrigation water source, halide dissolution and ion exchange in soils or the wide use of water-saving technology. Reclamation of new arable lands, limitations on farmland areas or discharge canal lengths and the surrounding environmental conditions (such as reservoirs or wastelands) are the main factors driving the spatial variations in TDS in the region. It is suggested to reduce salt load in drainage waters by decreasing irrigation water amount, prohibiting reclamation of new farmlands, improving drainage systems and changing flow destination of drainage waters from rivers to deserts/wastelands. In-depth analysis of spatial variations in TDS along with the causes and countermeasures could benefit the optimization of agricultural drainage water and regional water management in the study area and other arid regions.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the STS Project (KFJ-EW-STS-057-3) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the International Collaborative Project (2012DFG90290) and the JSPS project (Grant No.25302001). The water quality data and agronomic data were provided by Water Conservancy Administration Bureau of Tarim Irrigation District, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. We are grateful to our abled supporting staff at the Irrigation Experiment Station, First Agricultural Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for the collection of required raw data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Laboratory of Agricultural Water-Saving, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 286 Huaizhong Road, Shijiazhuang, 050021, China

    Shumin Han, Qiuli Hu & Yonghui Yang

  2. Irrigation Experiment Station, the First Agricultural Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Alaer, 843300, China

    Jiusheng Wang & Ping Wang

  3. Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, 422-8529, Japan

    Quan Wang

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  1. Shumin Han
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  2. Qiuli Hu
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  3. Yonghui Yang
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  4. Jiusheng Wang
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  5. Ping Wang
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  6. Quan Wang
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Correspondence to Yonghui Yang.

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Shumin Han and Qiuli Hu contributed equally to this work.

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Han, S., Hu, Q., Yang, Y. et al. Characteristics and Driving Factors of Drainage Water in Irrigation Districts in Arid Areas. Water Resour Manage 29, 5323–5337 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-015-1120-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-015-1120-x

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