Regional Differences in Rural Drinking Water Insecurity across Qinghai Province
青海省农村饮水安全及区域差异原因分析

The purpose of this study was to probe into the relationship between various conditions and drinking water insecurity in rural areas across Qinghai Province. We analyzed the distribution of the population with access to insecure drinking water and the population rate with insecure drinking water to explore regional differences in drinking water insecurity in rural areas across Qinghai Province. A stepwise regression method was used to construct models of populations with insecure drinking water and population ratio and the factors driving these. Data used included the county population estimates for Qinghai Province in 2009, county populations using insecure drinking water in 2009, land area, arable land area, revenue in 2009, average annual precipitation and elevation for each county. Using ArcGIS 9.3, we found that the population with insecure drinking water in rural areas in Qinghai Province in 2009 was 1.27 million people, accounting for one quarter of the total provincial population. The population using insecure drinking water was distributed mainly in eastern and south-eastern Qinghai and south-east of Yushu. The main factors affecting the size of the population with insecure drinking water were arable land area, population, revenue and altitude. The area with the highest population rate using insecure drinking water was southern Qinghai and the main variables affecting drinking water insecurity in this area were area and elevation.