Seasonal and Inter-Annual Variability of Groundwater and Their Responses to Climate Change and Human Activities in Arid and Desert Areas: A Case Study in Yaoba Oasis, Northwest China

Huanhuan Li,Ce Zheng,Jing Wu,Xiaonan Zhang,Yudong Lu,Bao Zhou

doi:10.3390/w12010303

Abstract

Climate change and human activities have profound effects on the characteristics of groundwater in arid oases. Analyzing the change of groundwater level and quantifying the contributions of influencing factors are essential for mastering the groundwater dynamic variation and providing scientific guidance for the rational utilization and management of groundwater resources. In this study, the characteristics and causes of groundwater level in an arid oasis of Northwest China were explored using the Mann–Kendall trend test, Morlet wavelet analysis, and principal component analysis. Results showed that the groundwater level every year exhibited tremendous regular characteristics with the seasonal exploitation. Meanwhile, the inter-annual groundwater level dropped continuously from 1982 to 2018, with a cumulative decline depth that exceeded 12 m, thereby causing the cone of depression. In addition, the monthly groundwater level had an evident cyclical variation on the two time scales of 17–35 and 7–15 months, and the main periodicity of monthly level was 12 months. Analysis results of the climatic factors from 1954 to 2018 observed a significant warming trend in temperature, an indistinctive increase in rainfall, an inconspicuous decrease in evaporation, and an insignificant reduction in relative humidity. The human factors such as exploitation amount, irrigated area, and population quantity rose substantially since the development of the oasis in the 1970s. In accordance with the quantitative calculation, human activities were decisive factors on groundwater level reduction, accounting for 87.79%. However, climate change, including rainfall and evaporation, which contributed to 12.21%, still had the driving force to change the groundwater level in the study area. The groundwater level of Yaoba Oasis has been greatly diminished and the ecological environment has deteriorated further due to the combined effect of climate change and human activities.

Highlights

Groundwater resources play a crucial role in social, economic, and agricultural development, in arid and semi-arid regions where surface water is scarce [1,2,3]
With the occurrence of global change, climate anomalies, and rapid development of the social economy in recent decades, the impacts of climate change and human activities on groundwater resource have been increasingly prominent in arid oases which are characterized by scarce surface water, intense human activities, atrocious climates, and fragile ecosystems [6,7]
Oasis taken as an example, the monthly average rainfall is found to be the most abundant from July to September, whereas the groundwater level is at the lowest phase of the whole year (Figure 2a)

Summary

Introduction

Groundwater resources play a crucial role in social, economic, and agricultural development, in arid and semi-arid regions where surface water is scarce [1,2,3]. With the occurrence of global change, climate anomalies, and rapid development of the social economy in recent decades, the impacts of climate change and human activities on groundwater resource have been increasingly prominent in arid oases which are characterized by scarce surface water, intense human activities, atrocious climates, and fragile ecosystems [6,7]. Abliz et al [9] summarized the groundwater depth increase because of extensive agricultural water consumption and regional evapotranspiration in the Keriya

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Conclusion