Yellow River Basin: Living with scarcity

Abstract

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) Focal Project set out to study water poverty, water
availability and access, water productivity, and water and related institutions in the
Yellow River basin to develop and rank a series of high-priority interventions aimed at
increasing water and food security for the poor, while maintaining environmental
sustainability. The YBFP identified complex relations between water and poverty in the
YRB; identified streamflow declines in the basin despite predicted higher rainfall;
calculated basin-water shortfalls as a result of both economic development and climate
change; assessed various aspects of rainfed and irrigated crop water productivity; and
identified key reforms for water-related institutions. Moreover, the YBFP empirically
assessed the benefits of agricultural water rights trading applying an innovative
modeling framework to the basin.