The Water Footprint perspective to address environmental sustainability of water use in South River Basin of east China

Abstract. The rational and appropriate allocation as well as scientific management of water resource is the cardinal and crucial part of the sustainability of regional development and integrated river basin management. The object of this study was to propose the Water Footprint (WF) assessment of the environmental sustainability in water resource management in South River Basin of east China. The WF is a new tool that measures direct and indirect freshwater use of a consumer or producer and environmental sustainability. The WF has three components: water resources (blue), precipitation stored in the soil (green) and pollution (grey). The WF can assess the environmental sustainability in water use. The sustainability was carried out in South River Basin in the 2005, 2015 and 2025 scenarios. The results indicate that blue water use is not sustainable in July, August, September, October, November and December, which varies within the year, due to uneven distribution of water resources during the year. It also reveals that gray WF level, which is not sustainable in2005 and 2025 scenarios, is mainly caused by the application of a large number of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and the direct discharge of industrial pollution. The assessment of future scenarios show that, if no improvement measures are implemented, these problems will worsen. The results will contribute to the sustainability of regional water resources management.