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Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (1): 31-42.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.075

• Hydrology and Water Resoures • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Evaluation of the ecological water conveyance benefits in the lower reaches of Tarim River based on environmental quality index

Ailikemu SILAYIN1(), Anwar EZIZ2, Tajiguli KASIMU2, SHI Zhiwen2, XU Junyu2,3, Ziwargul KIBIR2,3, Umut HALIK3, Alishir KURBAN2()   

  1. 1. Tarim River Management Bureau of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Korla 841000, Xinjiang, China
    2. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    3. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2024-02-02 Revised:2024-03-16 Online:2025-01-25 Published:2025-01-21
  • Contact: Alishir KURBAN E-mail:alkam0403@sina.com;alishir@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

The environmental quality index (EQI) is a comprehensive metric for evaluating the quality of the natural environment, integrating components such as climate, water resources, soil, topography, and biodiversity. Using data from satellite imagery, field observations, and published literature, EQI of the lower reaches of Tarim River, Xinjiang, China in 2000, 2010 and 2020 was calculated by entropy, principal component analysis, and hierarchical analysis methods. The findings revealed that: (1) Ecological water conveyance significantly improved the natural environmental quality in the lower reaches of Tarim River from 2000 to 2020. High EQI regions were primarily concentrated near riverbanks and the lake basin. (2) From 2000 to 2010, environmental quality improvement was more pronounced, with 15620 km2 increase in improved areas, compared to 13831 km2 increase from 2010 to 2020. (3) The EQI classified as poor (EQI<0.4) and very good (EQI≥0.8) increased significantly, whereas the below-average (0.4≤EQI<0.5) and good (0.6≤EQI<0.8) EQI classes showed no significant change. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the overall ecological water conveyance strategy in enhancing environmental quality by reducing low and medium EQI areas and expanding high EQI areas.

Key words: environmental quality index, comprehensive assessment, multi-source data, lower reaches of Tarim River