Hindawi Publishing Corporation Advances in Meteorology Article ID 279173 Research Article Identification of Water Scarcity and Providing Solutions for Adapting to Climate Changes in the Heihe River Basin of China Xiangzheng Deng 1,2 and Chunhong Zhao 1,2,3 1 Institute of Geographic and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China 2 Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China Correspondence should be addressed to Xiangzheng Deng; dengxz.ccap@gmail.com Received 30 June 2014; Accepted 18 October 2014 Academic Editor: R.B. Singh Copyright © X. Deng and C. Zhao. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In ecologically fragile areas with arid climate, such as the Heihe River Basin in northwestern China, sustainable social and economic development depends largely on the availability and sustainable uses of water resource. However, there is more and more serious water resource shortage and decrease of water productivity in Heihe River Basin under the inluence of climate change and human activities. his paper attempts to identify the severe water scarcity under climate change and presents possible solutions for sustainable development in Heihe River Basin. hree problems that intervened land use changes, water resource, the relevant policies and institutions in Heihe River basin were identiied, including (1) water scarcity along with serious contradiction between water supply and demand, (2) irrational water consumption structure along with low eiciency, and (3) deicient systems and institutions of water resource management along with unreasonable water allocation scheme. In this sense, we focused on reviewing the state of knowledge, institutions, and successful practices to cope with water scarcity at a regional extent. Possible solutions for dealing with water scarcity are explored and presented from three perspectives: (1) scientiic researches needed by scientists, (2) management and institution formulation needed by governments, and (3) water resource optimal allocation by the manager at all administrative levels. 1. Introduction In most arid and semiarid areas, water resource is the core and the linkage between the ecosystem and the economic system [1]. It not only plays a vital role in the formation, development, and stability of desert oasis, but also is a key component of the ecosystem environment and services [2]. Most of the inland rivers in China are faced with severe water resource shortage and serious ecological deterioration. he north and northwest of China account for half of the total area of China but have less than 20% of total national available water resource [2, 3]. Meanwhile, as one of the major constraints on sustainable development, water is the determining factor to maintain social production and livelihoods of the arid and semiarid region [4]. he water issue in arid and semiarid inland areas is thus receiving considerable attention worldwide [5]. Climate change emerges as one of the major forces that afect water availability in the future [6, 7]. he Inter- governmental Panel on Climate Change [8] points to the high sensitivity of semiarid and arid regions to climate, considering the already existing water stress driven by growth in agricultural, industrial, and urban demands. he need for more research on the impact of climate change on surface and ground water has been addressed by the current research [9, 10]. Meanwhile, human activities have exerted great impacts on water resource. Global urban water utilization increased over 20 times within the past century, from 200 × 108 m 3 in the year 1900, to 600 × 10 8 m 3 in the year 1950, to 1500 × 10 8 m 3 in the year 1975, and to 4400 × 10 8 m 3 in the year 2000 [11]. With continuous population growth and urbanization progresses, the availability of water with suicient quantity and quality is one of the anticipated future problems.