Abstract: Shortage of water resources has seriously hampered the healthy development of oasis city. Based on the situation of exploitation and utilization of water resources in Urumqi during the period of 1995-2010, in this paper a comprehensive appraisal model was developed for assessing the exploitation and utilization potential of water resources. The results were as follows: (1) Surface water was the main water resources in Urumqi, where the annual volume of water resources was 11.20×10⁸ m³, and the water resources volume per capita was much lower than that in whole Xinjiang. The exploitation and utilization ratio of water resources in Urumqi was rapidly increased, and even the water consumption was higher than the inflow volume; (2) Total water consumption was increased in a fluctuation way, and it was 10.89×10⁸ m³ in 2010. Water consumption was dominated by agricultural production, but the proportion of water consumption for farming was decreased in recent years, and the industrial and domestic water consumption was gradually increased; (3) The background conditions of water resources in Urumqi were significantly deteriorated, but the utilization efficiency and management capability were rapidly improved. Holistically, the exploitation and utilization potential of water resources in Urumqi was gradually decreased in a fluctuation way due to the rapid population growth and economic development as well as the pollution of water resources.

Key words: water resources, exploitation and utilization potential, oasis city, Urumqi