3The project ‘Integrated Environmental Management of the Tarim Basin ’ project was supported by the World

The Tarim River Basin is located in the Xinjiang Uigher Autonomous Region (XUAR) in far Western China and is the largest internal drainage Basin in China, with a total area of about 1 million km2 with total annual surface runoff of 30 billion cubic metres. The Basin is of similar size to the Murray-Darling Basin of Australia and experiences many similar issues, including returning water to the River for ecological purposes and better managing land and water salinity. Jurisdictionally, the Tarim Basin includes 5 Prefectures who have delegated responsibilities for managing their respective land, water and environmental resources under the guidance of the XUAR Regional Government. The Tarim Basin is an important part of the XAUR’s economic development. Irrigation is extensive with about 1.5 million ha of irrigated land using 15 Bm3 of surface water and 0.3 Bm3 of groundwater annually. The Basin produces one sixth of China’s cotton as well as grains and fruit. Serious eco-environmental problems have developed over the last 40-50 years. For example, until recently, the lower 300 km of the Tarim River had not received water for 20 years and this seriously degraded the natural ‘green corridor’. Shallow watertables and soil salinity are also endemic in the irrigation areas and surface drains are widely used to drain shallow watertables. The quality of drainage effluent is often of 8-10 g/L and as a resul