Water and Energy Abstracts

The paper focuses on the hydrological modelling of an agriculturally used basin in China. The field site, the semi-arid Yanqi basin, is located in Xinjiang Province, China, northeast of the Tarim basin. The Yanqi basin has been one of the most productive agricultural areas in western China ever since irrigation channels were constructed in the second half of the 20th century. The application of river water for irrigation without adequate drainage has raised the groundwater table, causing significantly increased groundwater evaporation (phreatic evaporation). Salt stored for decades in the subsoil is dissolved as the groundwater table rises and accumulates at the soil surface as groundwater evaporates. However, alternatives to today’s management practices exist. A hydrological model simulating the water and salt balance of this region was constructed and verified by using spatially distributed input data. A general overView of the model set-up is given. The verification of the model with a remotely sensed map of phreatic evaporation is discussed in more detail. By using this model, several management scenarios have been developed and their influence on the water balance has been studied.