Overall-effective measures for sustainable water resources management in the coastal area of Shandong Province, PR China

Water shortage and water pollution are serious problems in China's Northern provinces which strongly influence not only socio-economic development, but also ecology and quality of life in these regions. Shandong Province and particularly the Huangshui river basin is an outstanding example for water conflicts arising from piece meal action as well as from fast growing population, industry and agriculture. Crucial points are here also water shortage, the pollution of water resources, and the associated intrusion of seawater into groundwater resources.

The following problem areas must be solved for the region:

• Water shortage,
• Water pollution,
• Saltwater intrusion,
• Consequences on socio-economic development,
• Consequences on ecology.

The foundation for this project was laid in the years 2004/2005 within the framework of a preliminary project under the auspices of the University of Essen (Prof. Geiger) and of the Shandong WCR Institute (Prof. Wang/ Prof. Zhang).
 

A Water Resources Management for Shandong Province should intergrate the following fields:

• environmental, social and economic aspects,
• groundwater and surface water,
• water quantity and water quality,
• Balance of all water resources and demands on a river basin scale.

By IWRM combining German traditional expert knowledge and novel developments of water management, especially related to the EU Water Framework Directive, with research efforts in the coastal region of Shandong Province, a substantial improvement of the situation is possible.

Such management, employing also high quality German monitoring and installation engineering, could be applied in the following not only in other parts of China, but further in other world regions with similar challenges.