Water loss and return flows matter for water stress mitigation in China

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published 112361 1 339777 document 112361 indexcodes.txt text/plain 6019d2bc293e3dfb47110e931b7b0301 MD5 13568 2026-01-13 16:17:19 https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/21229/2/indexcodes.txt 21229 2 2 text/plain other Generate index codes conversion from text to indexcodes en public

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http://eprints.org/relation/isVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/112350 http://eprints.org/relation/isVolatileVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/112350 http://eprints.org/relation/issmallThumbnailVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/112350 archive 353 disk0/00/02/12/29 2026-01-13 16:08:45 2026-01-13 16:08:45 2026-01-13 16:08:45 article show Wang D. 9793 Sahu R.K. 2309 0000-0003-0681-0509 Kahil T. 2103 0000-0002-7812-5271 Tang T. 2176 0000-0002-2867-9241 Zhang W. Ye W. Wu G. Chen Z. Li H. Wang J. Feng H. Shan Y. Hubacek K. 7747 Water loss and return flows matter for water stress mitigation in China pub BNR WAT prog_ysp Societal water cycle, Water loss, Return flows, Physical and virtual water flow, Water quantity and quality, Water stress assessment, Water stress mitigation Water is withdrawn, lost, consumed, polluted, returned, treated, reused, and traded between regions within the societal water cycle due to human activities, contributing to regional water stress. In this research, we aim to examine the impacts of the societal water cycle on water resources and explore strategies for reducing water stress in China. The results show that most provinces in China suffer from water quantity and quality stress. However, there is a significant potential to reduce water quantity stress by 36–79 % through reducing water loss and return flows. The return flows and water loss in the virtual export forms could be avoided to reduce virtual water export-induced quantity stress by 39–89 %. Agriculture and households’ return flows contribute 61–98 % to provincial water quality stress in China. The five sectors with the greatest potential to mitigate water quantity and quality stress are identified for each province, which could reduce quantity stress by 22–75 % and quality stress by 23–76 %. 2026-01 published Elsevier doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.147398 3507 3198 142 3086 1331 public Journal of Cleaner Production 538 e147398 1 TRUE 1879-1786 info:eu-repo/semantics/article