The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region's Department of Water Resources has officially released the 2025 Water Resources Bulletin for public dissemination.
The data indicates that 2025 was a year of abundant water for Ningxia, with the total water resources amounting to 1.069 billion cubic meters. While ensuring socio-economic development, the region has seen significant improvements in water use efficiency, ongoing optimization of water consumption structures, and overall stable and manageable flood and drought conditions.
The report shows that Ningxia's total precipitation for 2025 reached 18.225 billion cubic meters. This figure represents a 12% decrease compared to 2024 but is 22% higher than the multi-year average recorded from 1956 to 2016.
Regarding the composition of water resources, surface water resources were 833 million cubic meters, while groundwater resources were 1.561 billion cubic meters. After deducting the overlap of 1.325 billion cubic meters between surface and groundwater, the total water resources for Ningxia were calculated at 1.069 billion cubic meters.
An analysis of water supply and usage reveals that Ningxia's total water withdrawal (supply) in 2025 was 6.318 billion cubic meters. The water supply continued to be dominated by surface water sources, with water from the Yellow River reaching 5.341 billion cubic meters, accounting for 85% of the total supply.
It is noteworthy that the utilization of non-conventional water sources has made new progress. The supply from non-conventional sources such as reclaimed water and mine water reached 234 million cubic meters, constituting approximately 4% of the total supply and serving as an important supplement for water resource development and conservation.
In terms of water use structure, agriculture, as the largest consumer, withdrew 5.054 billion cubic meters, accounting for about 80% of the total water withdrawal. Industrial, domestic, and artificial ecological environment water withdrawals accounted for 9%, 6%, and 5%, respectively.
Regarding water consumption, Ningxia's total water consumption in 2025 was 3.770 billion cubic meters, with a comprehensive water consumption rate of approximately 59.7%.
The bulletin particularly highlights positive changes in water resource utilization efficiency. Data indicates that after adjusting for factors like lake replenishment and mine water drainage, the water use per 10,000 yuan of regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2025 decreased by 32.3% compared to 2020. Similarly, water use per 10,000 yuan of industrial value added decreased by 16.0% compared to 2020. These figures reflect substantial achievements in promoting industrial transformation and upgrading and building a water-saving society in Ningxia.
In the area of flood and drought disaster prevention, the situation in Ningxia during 2025 was generally stable and controllable. The drought conditions manifested as consecutive droughts in spring and summer, with some areas in Guyuan City reaching severe drought levels. In mid-to-late May, residents and livestock in parts of Longde, Jingyuan, and Pengyang counties experienced temporary water supply shortages, which were later properly resolved through emergency water diversion measures.
During the flood season, Ningxia experienced frequent severe convective weather. Floods occurred 459 times across 134 gullies, with some gullies on the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains experiencing floods exceeding historical records. However, no major dangerous situations occurred.
Furthermore, the 2025-2026 ice flood season was characterized by the "latest initial ice formation and the earliest complete river thawing on record," with the overall ice flood situation remaining stable.
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