Land Use Change and Its Impact on Water Resources in East River Basin, South China

Using hydrological data of the East River Basin, South China, over the past five decades, this paper analyzed the impact of land use changes and vegetation cover changes on the hydrological system of the basin. It was found that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the Basin is not significantly correlated with natural runoff, annual evapo-transpiration or runoff coefficient. Changes in the conditions of the underlying surface of the river basin arising from land use/land cover changes are the primary factor impacting upon runoff changes in the East River Basin and are the main reason for the increase in runoff in the river basin. Changes in the hydrological system of the East River Basin are subject to the impact of complicated factors, typically the joint impact of climatic changes and human activities.