China’s first comprehensive water atlas, Water Atlas of China, led by NHRI for compilation, was published by China Science Publishing & Media Ltd. recently.

Water is the mother of all things, the foundation of survival and the source of civilization. China has a vast territory, diverse terrain, complex climate, numerous rivers and lakes. Its unique geographical conditions and farming civilization have determined the complexity of the natural law of water in China, and also determined the vital importance of water governance to the survival and development of the Chinese nation and the prosperity of the country.

Developed countries in the world have always attached great importance to the compilation of water atlases. The United States published Water Atlas of American twice, in 1962 and 1973 respectively, and Ground Water Atlas of the United States in 2000. The EU launched the Global Surface Water Explorer in 2016, an interactive online mapping tool to help policy makers in Europe and other regions of the world better understand climate change and water resources so as to make more effective policies. Atlas of Urban Water Management in Europe was released to demonstrate in a visual way the importance of sustainable water utilization and actions needed to be taken accordingly. Though relevant agencies in China including the Ministry of Water Resources have successively compiled and published various atlases, there is still lack of a large comprehensive atlas on the subject of water. Therefore, the official publication of Water Atlas of China is something of a milestone.

In 2009, the Ministry officially launched a project to compile Water Atlas of China, which was led by NHRI, with relevant departments of the Ministry providing business guidance and technical control, a total of 25 organizations under the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources and related institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences participating in the compilation. ZHANG Jianyun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is the chief editor. More than 700 experts and scholars have collected and collated massive data, conducted in-depth calculation and analysis, studied and extracted the characteristics and laws of relevant elements, used advanced platforms of drawing and editing, and completed the giant project by the end of 2022 after numerous thematic discussions, reviews and revisions.

Water Atlas of China consists of 5 parts, i.e. introductory maps, water bodies and hydrological cycle, rainstorm floods and droughts, water resources and water engineering, with 113 thematic maps included. Water Map of China, supplemented by data table and text, systematically describes the quantity and quality of various forms of water within China's territory, water circulation and spatio-temporal distribution laws, current situation of water exploitation, utilization and protection, relationship between water and socio-economic development and ecological environmental protection, etc. from different perspectives and different scales. It reflects the formation, circulation, development and protection of water resources and old and new water problems, and systematically combs and summarizes the great achievements and experiences of water governance and management practices in China.