Abstract
Groundwater overdraft is a worldwide phenomenon, resulting in environmental issues, such as water contamination, land subsidence, seawater intrusion, streamflow reduction, and deterioration of the ecological environment. Located in the central North China Plain, Hengshui City has experienced a regional groundwater depression cone due to excessive pumping of groundwater, resulting in the largest overdraft area in the North China Plain. Since 2014, Hebei Province has adopted measures to realize the comprehensive governance of groundwater overdraft in partial areas of Hengshui City, including adjusting planting structures, promoting agronomic water-saving techniques, strengthening hydraulic engineering construction, and innovative management systems. These measures have been in effect for two years, such that their effectiveness must be assessed for the beneficial recovery of groundwater levels to determine the means for their continuation and extension. However, the change in regional groundwater levels is not gradual, but reflects a process of sudden increase due to the intervention of government behavior, and many existing groundwater recharge models are difficult to apply. Therefore, establishing a reasonable, scientific evaluation system of the measures is a key problem that requires a solution. Using field surveys and experiments, this study establishes a quantitative analysis evaluation method to assess the performance of governance measures adopted by Hengshui City in 2015, with full consideration of the crop water demand process and rainfall frequency. The results show that governance measures had a significant positive outcome on reducing groundwater overdraft in pilot areas. Approximately 98.4% of the agricultural governance target was achieved, with confined groundwater rebounding by approximately 4.92 m as compared to 2015. According to the analysis, the three most efficient measures (the top three largest amounts of groundwater-saved per mu) adopted by the government were (1) non-agricultural crops replacement (forestry), (2) planting pattern adjustments, and (3) integration of water and fertilizer-vegetable, which can be promoted in future measures. However, considering the size of the implementation area and total governance capacity, water-saving during spring irrigation of wheat and replacement by surface water are the two most important conservation measures, which are required to further strengthen the management and implementation effect.
Highlights
As a fundamental component of the water cycle, groundwater is of paramount importance in supporting human economic and social development
Surface water irrigation projects were mainly comprised of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the surface water irrigation project in the Shijin Irrigation District, including the construction of the canal system, field projects, and water storage projects for pits and ponds
The long-term use of ecological water and groundwater over-exploitation is necessary in Hengshui City to ensure ongoing socioeconomic development
Summary
As a fundamental component of the water cycle, groundwater is of paramount importance in supporting human economic and social development. Due to climate change and the influence of human activities, groundwater resources have been heavily depleted in many parts of the world. In the USA, groundwater meets 75% of the municipal water demand and provides drinking water for more than half of the population [1]. Due to their arid, semi-arid, and semi-humid climates, seventeen northern provinces in China regularly experience severe water shortages, failing to meet the water demand of industrial and agricultural production and domestic use [2]. The area of groundwater overdraft approaches 620,000 km and approximately 60 cities have been categorized as seriously over-exploited [3]. Considering the magnitude of the problem and its consequences, groundwater overdraft issues have been extensively discussed and legal restrictions implemented
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