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Water resource conservation promotes synergy between economy and environment in China’s northern drylands

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Abstract

Water resource availability is the major limiting factor for sustainable development in drylands. Climate change intensifies the conflicting water demands between people and the environment and highlights the importance of effective water resource management for achieving a balance between economic development and environmental protection. In 2008, Inner Mongolia, typical dryland in northern China, proposed strict regulations on water exploitation and utilization aimed at achieving sustainable development. Our study is the first to investigate the effectiveness and performance of these long-standing water conservation regulations. Our analyses found that the regulations drove industrial transformation, evidenced by the decreasing proportion of environmentally harmful industries such as coal and steel, and the increasing proportion of tertiary industries (especially tourism). Following industrial transformation, economic development decoupled from industrial water consumption and subsequently led to reduced negative environmental impacts. Based on these results, adaptive strategies were developed for 12 cities by revealing and integrating their development pathways and relative status in achieving sustainable development. Integration and cooperation between cities were proposed, e.g., a water trade agreement between eastern Inner Mongolia (an economically underdeveloped region with relatively abundant water resources) and central Inner Mongolia (an economically developed region with high water stress). Such an agreement may enable the holistic achievement of sustainable development across regions. By integrating the findings of our research, our study presents a reproducible framework for water-management-based sustainable development strategies in drylands.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the CAS Strategic Priority Research Programme (No. XDA20050103); the International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 121311KYSB20170004-04); and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42001267).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yali Liu, Yuexian Liu, Qinwei Ran & Yanfen Wang

  2. College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jianqing Du, Boyang Ding, Anquan Xia, Yanbin Hao & Xiaoyong Cui

  3. Yanshan Earth Critical Zone and Surface Fluxes Research Station, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jianqing Du, Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui & Yanfen Wang

  4. State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Wenjun Liu

  5. Shandong Tudi Development Group Co., Ltd., Jinan, 250101, China

    Ran Huo

  6. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui & Yanfen Wang

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  1. Yali Liu
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  2. Jianqing Du
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  3. Boyang Ding
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  4. Yuexian Liu
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  5. Wenjun Liu
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  7. Ran Huo
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  8. Qinwei Ran
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  9. Yanbin Hao
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  10. Xiaoyong Cui
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  11. Yanfen Wang
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Correspondence to Jianqing Du or Yanfen Wang.

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Highlights

• Considering evenness provides a more accurate assessment of sustainable development.

• Water resource conservation drives industrial transformation.

• Synergy between economic development and environmental protection is achieved.

• Regional collaboration over water could promote sustainable development in drylands.

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Liu, Y., Du, J., Ding, B. et al. Water resource conservation promotes synergy between economy and environment in China’s northern drylands. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 16, 28 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1462-y

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