Ecological degradation occurs in arid river basins worldwide, where intensive water withdrawal, agricultural expansion, and hydropower development have led to river drying, groundwater depletion, and biodiversity loss. In a new review article published in Water & Ecology , a research team led by Mingjiang Deng from Xi'an University of Technology highlight the recent advances in ecological operation practices in China's Tarim and Irtysh River Basins.
In particular, the authors presented a framework combining multiscale reservoir ecological operations, ecological flow reconstruction, ecological infiltration irrigation (EII), and ecological water conveyance (EWC), demonstrating how these innovations have successfully balanced ecological sustainability with socioeconomic demands while offering transferable lessons for other water-limited regions globally.
"Collectively, these four components provide the theoretical foundation and technological pathways for achieving adaptive, data-driven, and ecologically oriented water management," says Deng.
The multiscale ecological operation model integrates long-term, mid-term, and real-time reservoir operations.
"At the macro scale, annual and seasonal planning balances ecological and social water demands, while short-term and real-time adjustments enable precise ecological management," explains Deng.
Sophisticated optimization techniques such as the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) are applied to balance diverse objectives. The ecological flow reconstruction methods aim to replicate natural hydrological variability essential for maintaining riverine ecosystem health. "The implementation of the "three-pulse" ecological flow strategy has proven particularly effective, involving targeted water releases aligned with critical ecological periods including fish migration, spawning, and vegetation regeneration," adds Deng.
Technological innovations in ecological infiltration irrigation represent another key advancement. The authors note that EII is an innovative irrigation practice designed to optimize limited water resources for maximum ecological benefit. "This method strategically distributes water through artificial ecological flooding and precise irrigation techniques, enhancing vegetation recovery, groundwater recharge, and habitat restoration," Deng says.
Ecological water conveyance has evolved from traditional single-channel approaches to multichannel, distributary, and diffuse conveyance techniques, significantly improving the spatial distribution of ecological water and promoting riparian habitat restoration.
Notably, the practical applications demonstrate substantial ecological outcomes. "In the Tarim River Basin, targeted EWC reduced average groundwater depth from about 11 meters in 1997 to 4.47 meters by 2013, revitalizing Populus euphratica forests and the Taitema Lake ecosystem," shares Deng.
In the Irtysh River Basin, integrated multiscale reservoir operations and EII practices increased grassland productivity by approximately 25% between 2016 and 2018, generating substantial economic benefits for local pastoral communities. These cases illustrate that ecological operation frameworks can generate tangible ecological, hydrological, and socioeconomic benefits even under severe water scarcity conditions.
Despite these successes, the authors acknowledge remaining challenges including climate variability, competing sectoral demands during dry years, infrastructure limitations, and monitoring gaps. "The framework demonstrates strong transferability to other arid regions globally, including the Amu Darya River Basin in Central Asia, the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia, and water-scarce regions in Africa and the Middle East," says Deng. "To secure long-term sustainability, the authors recommend strengthening adaptive management frameworks with explicit multiscale rules, expanding integrated monitoring networks, and advancing optimization techniques to maintain system resilience under increasing climate uncertainty."
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Contact the author:
Mingjiang Deng
-State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an710048, China
-Engineering Research Center of Water Resources and Ecological Water Conservancy in Cold and Arid Area of Xinjiang (Academician Workstation), Urumqi 830052, China
xjdmj@163.com
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Water & Ecology
Systematic review
Not applicable
Toward Integrated Ecological Operation of River Basins in Arid Regions: Challenges and Emerging Solutions
The authors declare the following financial interests which may be considered as potential competing interests: Jian Wang is currently employed by China Three Gorges Corporation. Mingjiang Deng is an editorial member for Water & Ecology and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article.