Utilizing water resources from the Tibetan Plateau: Benefits, risks, and future research requirements

The uneven spatial and temporal distributions of water resources have made regional scarcities of water resources an increasingly prominent problem around the world. This problem seriously affects food security, desertification, land degradation, and sustainable socio-economic development. Simultaneously, flood disasters caused by excess water resources cause high human and economic losses. Therefore, how to more effectively use the available water resources (e.g., to divert water from regions with an excess to regions with a deficit) is a major issue for the world to solve. For example, the Tibetan plateau generates 392.4 x 109 m3 of freshwater annually in the form of floods in downstream regions below the plateau, greatly harming people in the lower reaches of the many large Asian rivers that originate on the plateau. However, many rivers have been managed to capture billions of m3 of floodwater in their reservoirs. If we could use even half of this stored floodwater for irrigation, this would support cultivation and vegetation restoration in 31.1 x 106 ha surrounding these rivers, greatly increasing food security and improving the regional ecological environment through improved vegetation cover. However, the plateau's water distribution shows obvious regional heterogeneity and seasonal variation that must be accounted for. Rational utilization of the plateau's water resources could potentially improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people, but serious risks must be avoided to achieve this goal. By analyzing the benefits and risks of utilizing the plateau's water resources, we provide guidance for future utilization of this water and suggest future research directions. The countries around the plateau and researchers from around the world should form a multidisciplinary international organization to comprehensively examine the proposals for floodwater use and ensure safe utilization of this water. It is essential to establish a transnational water resource management organization to balance the interests of the different regions and countries that depend on Tibetan Plateau water to reduce the risk of political conflict and of adverse environmental consequences.

Automated summary

The uneven distribution of water resources globally has resulted in regional water scarcity becoming an increasingly prominent issue. This problem has significant impacts on food security, desertification, land degradation, and sustainable socio-economic development. Additionally, excess water resources leading to flood disasters cause significant human and economic losses.