Down-scale analysis for water scarcity in response to soil–water conservation on Loess Plateau of China

Water scarcity is one of the most prominent issues of discussion worldwide concerned with sustainable development, especially in the arid and semi-arid areas. On the Loess Plateau of China, population growth and fast-growing cities and industries have caused ever-increasing competition for water. The present paper shows a down-scale analysis on how the region wide mass action of soil–water conservation ecologically influenced regional water scarcity on the Loess Plateau, the Middle Reaches of the Yellow River of China. Result shows a great progress has been achieved in erosion control and food production since the 1980s. About 24% of erosion area has been controlled. Grain yield has increased greatly and sediment in the Yellow River has decreased by about 25%. However, various sources of evidence show that the soil–water conservation measures might have played a significant role on regional hydrocycles, leading to the depletion of deep soil water and reduced runoff in the Yellow River and consequently ecological problems. The study implies that cropland and forest plantations are increasingly suffering water stress. Advancing sustainable development further, or even maintaining the current situation, will be a great challenge given the burgeoning socio-economic development of the area combined with global climatic change.