Economic value of freshwater provisioning services of the cryosphere in the Urumqi River, Northwest China

As an important component of cryospheric provisioning services, freshwater provisioning services of the cryosphere is particularly critical to human well-being and socio-economic sustainability. It is imperative to quantitatively estimate the value of freshwater provisioning services to facilitate informed decision-making for ecosystem management and economic development. This study assessed the economic value and associated changes in benefits of freshwater provisioning services for industrial, agricultural, services and domestic water uses combining cost-based method and hydrological model in the Urumqi River during 2010–2016. The results showed that the average annual economic value of agricultural, services, domestic and industrial water uses generated from freshwater provisioning services were estimated to be 1.7, 4.4, 9.9, and 15.7 million CNY. The annual value of snowmelt provisioning services of sectorial water uses was much higher than that of glacier meltwater due to the greater contribution of snowmelt to outlet streamflow than glacier melt. The relative contributions of agricultural, services, domestic and industrial sectors to total economic value of freshwater provisioning services were 6%, 13%, 32%, and 49% respectively, depending on the meltwater supply and market prices. The benefits of freshwater provisioning services from different sectors generally increased in 2010–2016, with a significant increase in the services sector. Considering the impact of changes in freshwater supply under climate change on the assessment of cryospheric provisioning services, the results emphasize the necessity of promoting industrial structure optimization and adopting resource-efficient policies.