Ten key questions about the management of water in the Yellow River basin

Abstract

Water is scarce in many regions of the world, clean water is difficult to find in most developing countries, there are conflicts between irrigation needs and urban demands, and there is wide debate over appropriate means of resolving these problems. Similarly, in China, there is limited understanding of the ways in which people, groups, and institutions contribute to, are affected by, and respond to changes in water quantity and quality. We use the example of the Yellow River basin to argue that these social, managerial, and policy dimensions of the present water problems are significant and overshadow the physical ones. Despite this, they receive relatively little attention in the research ..