IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i6p2527-d1359850.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Distribution and Evolution of Groundwater Level Depths and Groundwater Sustainability in the Hexi Corridor over the Last Five Years

Author

Listed:
  • Le Cao

    (Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China
    Key Laboratory of Groundwater Sciences and Engineering, Ministry of Natural Resources, Shijiazhuang 050061, China)

  • Xuequan Liu

    (Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China)

  • Pucheng Zhu

    (Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China)

  • Lifang Wang

    (Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China)

Abstract

Groundwater overexploitation for agricultural irrigation is prone to lead to numerous ecological concerns. This study delved into the present distribution and recent trend of groundwater levels in the plain areas of the Hexi Corridor in Northwest China according to the groundwater level depth (GWD) data from 264 monitoring wells in the Shiyang River Basin (SYB) and 107 in the Shule River Basin (SLB), recorded annually in April from 2019 to 2023. The key findings include the following: (1) Over the five-year span, the SYB’s GWD experienced change rates (CRs) ranging from −12.17 to 9.11 m/a (average: −0.13 m/a), with the number of monitoring wells showing increased and decreased GWDs accounting for 50% and 50%, respectively. By contrast, the SLB’s GWD exhibited CRs ranging from −1.87 to 2.06 m/a (average: 0.01 m/a), with the number of monitoring wells showing increased and decreased GWDs accounting for 52% and 48%, respectively; (2) the Wuwei (CR = 0.09 m/a) and Changning (0.58 m/a) basins in the SYB and the Yumen (0.06 m/a), Guazhou (0.05 m/a), and Huahai (0.03 m/a) basins in the SLB, witnessed rising groundwater levels. In contrast, the Minqin Basin (0.09 m/a) in the SYB and the southern Dunhuang Basin (0.04 m/a) in the SLB witnessed declines in the groundwater levels; (3) The groundwater sustainability assessment showed that the groundwater is still extremely unsustainable. This study’s insights are instrumental in targeted treatment, as well as the preparation and adjustment of sustainable groundwater protection strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Le Cao & Xuequan Liu & Pucheng Zhu & Lifang Wang, 2024. "The Distribution and Evolution of Groundwater Level Depths and Groundwater Sustainability in the Hexi Corridor over the Last Five Years," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2527-:d:1359850
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2527/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2527/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xunzhou Chunyu & Feng Huang & Ziqiang Xia & Danrong Zhang & Xi Chen & Yongyu Xie, 2019. "Assessing the Ecological Effects of Water Transport to a Lake in Arid Regions: A Case Study of Qingtu Lake in Shiyang River Basin, Northwest China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Yang, Linshan & Feng, Qi & Lu, Tiaoxue & Adamowski, Jan F. & Yin, Zhenliang & Hatami, Shadi & Zhu, Meng & Wen, Xiaohu, 2023. "The response of agroecosystem water use efficiency to cropland change in northwest China’s Hexi Corridor," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yan Nie & Chen Yin & Pu Wang & Xingying He & Junjun Cao & Jing Yu, 2022. "Temporal and Spatial Evolution of Eichmann Lake Wetland in Aksu River Basin and Its Response to Ecological Water Supply," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Feng Huang & Danrong Zhang & Xi Chen, 2019. "Vegetation Response to Groundwater Variation in Arid Environments: Visualization of Research Evolution, Synthesis of Response Types, and Estimation of Groundwater Threshold," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-15, May.
    3. Qin Ma & Xiaojun Yao & Cong Zhang & Chen Yang & Kang Yang & Zhijuan Tian & Jiawei Li, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Terminal Lakes in the Hexi Interior, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2527-:d:1359850. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.