Land Use Induced Water Environment Changes in the Heihe River Basin, Arid Northwestern China

Using the data on land use and land cover change (LUCC) compiled from Landsat images of 1987 and 2002 and field survey in the arid inland river basin, water resource changes induced by land use were studied. The results reveal that significant changes in land use occur within the whole basin over the study period and cause such decline of groundwater table and degeneration of surface water and groundwater quality as severe water environmental degradation. Some countermeasures for ecological reconstruction must be introduced to solve problems of water environmental degradation in the arid inland river basin of northwestern China.