Water system management is a worldwide challenge, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Ecological water conveyance projects aim to raise the groundwater table, thereby saving natural vegetation and curbing ecological deterioration. Since 2000, these projects have been implemented in the arid zone of northwest China, with generally successful outcomes. Taking a portion of the lower reaches of the Tarim River as the study area, this paper analyzes in detail the ecohydrological effects which have occurred since the launching of artificial water conveyance 20 years ago. The results show that the groundwater table in the upper, middle and lower segments of the Tarim River’s lower reaches has been raised on average 4.06, 4.83 and 5.13 m, respectively, while the area of surface water bodies connected to those sections has expanded from 49.00 km² to 498.54 km². At the same time, Taitema Lake, which is the terminal lake of the Tarim River, has been revived and now boasts a water area of 455.27 km². Other findings indicate that the surface ecological response is extremely sensitive and that the area of natural vegetation has expanded to 1423 km². Furthermore, the vegetation coverage, vegetation index (NDVI), and Net Primary Productivity (NPP) have increased by 132 km², 0.07 and 7.6 g C m⁻², respectively, and the Simpson dominance, McIntosh evenness, and Margalef richness indices have risen by 0.33, 0.35 and 0.49, respectively, in the monitored sample sites. As well, the carbon sink area has expanded from 1.54% to 7.8%. Given the increasing intensity of the occurrence of extreme hydrological events and successive dry years, similar ecological water conveyance projects should be considered elsewhere in China and in other parts of the world. The water conveyance scheme has generally proven successful and should be optimized to enhance the benefits of ecological water conveyance under water resource constraints.

Under drought stress, desert riparian forest plants are highly self-regulating and have their own unique water use and regulation strategies, which can respond positively in several aspects such as physiology, ecology, and individual phenotypes when coping and adapting to the stresses brought by external environmental changes. In addition, as an important component of arid zone ecosystems, desert riparian forest plants maintain the cycling process of energy and material in desert areas. Therefore, it is of great ecological value to study the role played by desert riparian forest plants in desertification control and biodiversity conservation in arid zones. The purpose of this study is to provide basic data and scientific basis for the conservation, and restoration of desert riparian forests in the inland river basin of arid zone. In this paper, the physiological and ecological responses of desert riparian plants under drought stress were analyzed by reviewing the literature and focusing on the key scientific issues such as drought avoidance mechanisms, water use, and water redistribution, and the relationship between interspecific water competition and resource sharing of desert riparian plants. The results showed that: (1) In the inland river basin of arid zone, desert riparian plants show a mutual coordination of increasing soluble sugars, proline, malondialdehyde (MDA), and decreasing peroxidase (POD), to form a unique drought avoidance mechanism, and improve their drought tolerance by changing leaf stomatal conductance resulted from regulating abscisic acid (ABA) and cytokinin (CTK) content. (2) Desert riparian forest plants have their own unique water use and regulation strategies. When the degree of drought stress increased, Populus euphratica enhanced the water flow of dominant branches by actively sacrificing the inferior branches to ensure and improve the overall survival chances of the plant, while Tamarix ramosissima weaken hydraulic conductance, and increase subsurface material inputs by reducing plant height to cope with drought stress. (3) The root systems of desert riparian plants have hydraulic uplift and water redistribution functions, and, in the hydraulic uplift process of P. euphratica and T. ramosissima root systems, there is a possibility of assisting with other species in water utilization and the existence of a resource sharing mechanism.