Li et al. (2026) Navigating Climate Adaptation Boundaries for the World's Largest Inter‐Basin Water Transfer Projects

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-06-27
• Authors: Yu Li, Xiang Fu, Zhipeng Fan, Zhao Xiaodan, Yi Zheng
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr041103

Research Groups

• Institute of Hydrology and Water Resources, Nanjing University
• State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Tsinghua University
• National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation

Short Summary

This study investigates the hydrological impacts of future scenarios on four major Chinese river basins using a high-resolution Spatial Processes in Hydrology model. The results highlight the need for adaptive water management strategies to buffer against climate extremes.

Objective

• Investigate the effects of future climate change and human activities on streamflow in four major Chinese river basins

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Four major Chinese river basins (Yangtze, Yellow, Huaihe, and Haihe)
• Temporal Scale: Daily resolution for a 30-year period (1980-2010) with future projections to 2050

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Spatial Processes in Hydrology model at 5-km daily resolution
• Data sources: Gridded precipitation, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration datasets; water use and transfer data from government reports and literature reviews

Main Results

• Increased glacier melt and precipitation drive a net increase in streamflow and prolonged autumn flooding across all basins
• Decomposition analysis reveals distinct regional vulnerabilities in Huaihe River Basin with extreme nonlinearity
• The Central Route shows a significant decline in DIO under future climate (28%–31% reduction), while the Western and Eastern Routes remain stable

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the hydrological impacts of future climate change and human activities on four major Chinese river basins, highlighting the need for adaptive water management strategies to buffer against climate extremes
• The threshold-based climate-responsive strategy applied in this study demonstrates up to a 7% improvement in DIO for the Central Route

Funding

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51809273)
• Ministry of Water Resources of China (Grant No. 201801001)
• State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Tsinghua University

Citation

@article{Li2026Navigating,
  author = {Li, Yu and Fu, Xiang and Fan, Zhipeng and Xiaodan, Zhao and Zheng, Yi},
  title = {Navigating Climate Adaptation Boundaries for the World's Largest Inter‐Basin Water Transfer Projects},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr041103},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr041103}
}