Abstract
Water shortage and overexploitation of groundwater (GW) have become the key factors restricting the development of the Xiongan New Area (XNA), the environmental management of Baiyangdian Lake, and the social and economic development of surrounding areas. This study used a numerical GW flow model to quantitatively analyze the changes to the shallow GW level and GW reserves of the plain area of the Daqing River Basin over the next 15 years (2021–2035) under different artificial recharge schemes with the south to north water diversion project (SNWDP) acting as the GW recharge source. The results showed increasing GW storage and GW levels and that the regional GW resources are in a positive equilibrium state. The rates of change of the well irrigation supply scheme and the joint river-well irrigation supply scheme in the XNA will increase by 14.56% and 11.04% by 2035 as compared with the current situation. The well irrigation recharge scheme for the XNA was determined to be the most effective when comparing with the effects of the different artificial recharge schemes on the GW levels and recharge. This study provides a reference for the management and protection of aquifers in other areas suffering serious GW overexploitation.
Highlights
The trend in the GW flow field was consistent across the Western Piedmont area, the flow field in the Xiongan New Area (XNA) showed obvious changes, the area of the depression cone decreased, and there was an obvious rise in the GW level of
The downward trend in the GW flow field had a certain inhibitory effect. These results showed that the different recharge schemes adopted in the Baigou Diversion River and within 1 km of the river could effectively act to recharge the GW level of the depression cone area on the eastern and western sides of the river
The relative changes in well GW recharge in the XNA, combined river–well GW recharge in the XNA, river GW recharge across the entire area, and river recharge in the XNA were 14.56%, 11.04%, −0.12%, and −3.18%, respectively
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The Chinese government has issued a series of policies to reduce GW exploitation and increase recharge to solve the problem of continuous GW overexploitation These developments are likely to lead to complex changes in the GW level in this area. The implementation of policies mandating GW artificial recharge and GW compression mining will result in changes to the GW-dependent water supply of the NCP. These changes will relieve water deficits to some extent, thereby allowing an opportunity for the recovery of the GW system. Artificial recharge of GW can directly and effectively increase GW resources, regulate and store surface water, prevent or control the decline in GW levels, control the formation and further expansion of depression cones, and prevent or control land subsidence and other environmental geological problems. GW recharge and storage scheme to alleviate the environmental risk resulting from the continuous decline of the GW level
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