Abstract:

Water footprint (WF) is a new and mature approach to measure ecological carrying capacity.Water resources status is significant to the ecosystem balance,stability and healthy ecological system of the Poyang Lake.This paper conducted a comprehensive use of WF model in the Poyang Lake,and calculated out time series values of WF during 1989~2008 through the econometric model,and then evaluated their own load conditions.The conclusion showed that the WF value in the Area around Poyang Lake rose from 735 billion cubic meters in 1989 to 110 billion cubic meters in 2008,which presented a rising tendency in the past two decades.Though it was overloaded, the surplus space showed a decreasing trend. This paper proposed countermeasures such as optimizing of water use,proposing of green consumption model,promoting regional trade exchanges for improving the regional ecological carrying capacity from the aspects of reducing the demand pressures of WF,and also from increasing the supply of WF.This study could provide a theoretical basis for improving carrying capacity of Poyang Lake Region from the perspective of the water footprint and then promote the construction of Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone in Jiangxi Province