Progress in Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on China’s Water Resources and Major Water Conservancy Projects

Climate change is altering the global water cycle, leading to variation in the total amount as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of surface water resources. This can exert significant impact on the development, utilization and management of water resources. We summarized the recent progress and understanding of the impacts of climate change on water resources and water conservancy projects in China and around the globe. We also identified the deficiencies of the current research and pointed out the future research directions. It is concluded that further studies should be conducted in assessing changes in hydrological extremes and their impacts, developing models, tools and technical guidelines for impact study, and identifying strategies to adapt to future climate change. It is expected to provide reference for promoting the studies on assessing climate change impacts on water resources and water conservancy projects as well as on the identification of coping strategies.