ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Assessment of the Socio-Economic Impact
of a Water Diversion Project for
a Water-Receiving Area
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1
Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Power Engineering of Jiangsu Province, College of Hydraulic Science and Engineering,
Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
2
China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China
3
College of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, China
Submission date: 2018-11-01
Final revision date: 2019-04-17
Acceptance date: 2019-04-28
Online publication date: 2019-11-10
Publication date: 2020-02-13
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2020;29(2):1771-1784
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ABSTRACT
Finding a method to accurately evaluate a water diversion project’s socio-economic impact, which can
contribute to planning and decision-making, has become a hot issue in the world. Our paper constructs
a computable general equilibrium model of a water diversion project for a water-receiving area to solve
this issue, and takes the south-to-north water diversion project in Beijing, China as an example. With
comparative analysis of different water supplies, the socio-economic impact of a water diversion project
on the water-received area is evaluated quantitatively. The result shows that as the reduction of the water
supply from the south-to-north water division project under different policy scenarios, the regional gross
domestic product decreases, which means the economic level declines, the proportion of high water
consumption by industry declines, the price index rises (which is not conducive to social stability),
employment rate falls and unemployment rises, and per capita disposable income falls (reflecting that
the quality of people’s living standards is falling). This study provides a theoretical basis to allocate the
diverted water and local water reasonably in order to adjust the industry structure according to the local
situation, to improve water management, and to reform water market and water price.