China's Inter-Basin Water Transfer Projects Dataset: Spatial Distribution, Historical Evolution, and Socio-Economic Impacts

Socioeconomic development and climate change have exacerbated the water supply-demand imbalance in China, making inter-basin water transfer an important means to alleviate regional water shortages. Water diversion and transfer projects play a crucial role in maintaining the balance of water resources and promoting sustainable economic development in China. However, the lack of a comprehensive and systematic dataset for China's water transfer projects has greatly limited the ability to assess and analyze the impact of these projects on water resource allocation, ecological environment, and socioeconomic factors on a national scale. This study integrates multi-source data to construct a dataset on the spatial distribution, historical evolution, and socioeconomic impacts of China's inter-basin water transfer projects. The results show that: (1) Water transfer projects have significantly improved the water supply capacity in the arid regions of northern China; (2) Inter-basin water transfer projects mainly support agricultural irrigation, urban water supply, and ecological construction in the receiving areas; (3) Some receiving areas face ecological risks such as groundwater table rise and increased salinization. This dataset provides significant support for academic research and government decision-making, as well as a data foundation for promoting the optimized allocation of water resources and sustainable development across different regions of China.

社会经济发展与气候变化加剧了中国的水资源供需失衡，使得跨流域调水（inter-basin water transfer）成为缓解区域水资源短缺的重要手段。调水工程对维持中国水资源平衡、推动经济可持续发展具有关键作用。然而，当前缺乏针对中国调水工程的全面系统数据集，极大限制了在全国尺度上评估分析此类工程对水资源配置、生态环境及社会经济因素的影响的能力。本研究整合多源数据，构建了中国跨流域调水工程的空间分布、历史演变及社会经济影响数据集。研究结果表明：（1）调水工程显著提升了中国北方干旱地区的供水能力；（2）跨流域调水工程主要为受水区提供农业灌溉、城市供水及生态建设支撑；（3）部分受水区面临地下水位上升、盐渍化加剧等生态风险。本数据集可为学术研究与政府决策提供重要支撑，同时为推动中国各区域水资源优化配置与可持续发展奠定数据基础。