Regional strategies for the accelerating global problem of groundwater depletion

Aeschbach–Hertig, Werner; Gleeson, Tom

doi:10.1038/ngeo1617

Cited by 695 publications

(338 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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Section: Perspectives and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, for most of the world, groundwater must be pumped for irrigation purposes in order to maintain a high yield, especially in semi-arid and arid regions [52]. Irrigation has led to the rapid decline of the groundwater table in highly intensified agricultural parts of the world, such as the North China Plain, the Sanjiang Plain, the Central Valley of California, and the Indus River Basin [52,53]. Water shortages have become the main factor limiting grain production in the world, as well as NCD, since the cropping system has changed from one rainfed crop to the winter wheat-summer maize system of irrigation and since the NPD's grain production has increased and become one of the major grain producing areas in China, while the groundwater table was declined rapidly at the same time [47,54].…”

Section: Perspectives and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Meteorological Elements in the North China District of China during 1960–2015

Yang

Yin

et al. 2018

Water

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Abstract:The North China District (NCD) is one of the main grain production regions in China. The double cropping system of irrigation has been leading to the groundwater table decline at the speed of 1-2 m per year. Climate change leads to uncertainty surrounding the future of the NCD agricultural system, which will have great effects on crop yields and crop water demands. In this research, the Meteorological dataset from 54 weather station sites over the period 1960-2015 were collected to quantify the long-term spatial and temporal trends of meteorological data, including daily minimum temperature (T min ), maximum temperature (T max ), precipitation, solar radiation, reference evapotranspiration (ET 0 ), and aridity index (AI). The results show that the long-term wheat and maize growing season and annual average air temperatures (T min and T max ) showed strong north to south increasing trends throughout the NCD. The average annual precipitation was 632.9 mm across the NCD, more than 70% of which was concentrated in the maize growing season. The regional average annual ET 0 was 1026.1 mm, which was 531.2 and 497.4 mm for the wheat and maize growing season, respectively. The regional precipitation decreased from northwest to southeast in each growing season and annual timescale. The funnel areas have lower precipitation and higher ET 0 than the regional average, which may lead to the mining of the groundwater funnel area. The regional average annual AI is 0.63, which lies in the humid class. For temporal analysis, the regional average trends in annual T min , T max , solar radiation, ET 0 , precipitation, and AI were 0.37 • C/10a, 0.15 • C/10a, −0.28 MJ/day/m 2 /10a, −2.98 mm/10a, −12.04 mm/10a, and 0.005/10a, respectively. The increasing trend of temperature and the decreasing trend of solar radiation may have a negative effect on the regional food security. The funnel area AI showed a significant increasing trend for the winter wheat growing season and a decreasing trend for maize, which indicated that more irrigation will be needed for the maize growing season and the winter fallow policy may lead to the increasing trend precipitation being wasted. Analyzing the growing season and the annual meteorological elements of the spatiotemporal trends can help us better understand the influence of climate change on the natural resources and agricultural development in both the past and the future, and will provide us with invaluable information for the modification of cropping patterns to protect the regional and national water and food security.

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Section: Perspectives and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Perspectives and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Meteorological Elements in the North China District of China during 1960–2015

Yang

Yin

et al. 2018

Water

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“…Many streams no longer flow because of groundwater depletions that diverted this base flow component to wells, creating dry channels and ephemeral streams that recharge groundwater during runoff events (45). As groundwater stores deplete, the groundwater budget eventually will transition to a new equilibrium in which extractions equal recharge (46). We computed recent recharge rates to preserve conservation of mass, in which the annual pumped volume is equal to the change in storage plus the recharge captured by wells.…”

Section: An Integrated System With Groundwater Depletion Supplying Irmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tapping unsustainable groundwater stores for agricultural production in the High Plains Aquifer of Kansas, projections to 2110

Steward

Bruss

Yang

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

175

108

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Significance Society faces the multifaceted crossroads dilemma of sustainably balancing today’s livelihood with future resource needs. Currently, agriculture is tapping the High Plains Aquifer beyond natural replenishment rates to grow irrigated crops and livestock that augment global food stocks, and science-based information is needed to guide choices. We present new methods to project trends in groundwater pumping and irrigated corn and cattle production. Although production declines are inevitable, scenario analysis substantiates the impacts of increasing near-term water savings, which would extend the usable lifetime of the aquifer, increase net production, and generate a less dramatic production decline.

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“…Comparing groundwater recharge with groundwater use and ecological water demand helps to distinguish between overused aquifer systems and aquifer systems that still allow for more abstraction in a sustainable way (5,6). The importance of managing groundwater sustainably will increase in the future given the growing dependence on this resource in many parts of the world (7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced groundwater recharge rates and altered recharge sensitivity to climate variability through subsurface heterogeneity

Hartmann

Gleeson

Wada

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

170

109

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Our environment is heterogeneous. In hydrological sciences, the heterogeneity of subsurface properties, such as hydraulic conductivities or porosities, exerts an important control on water balance. This notably includes groundwater recharge, which is an important variable for efficient and sustainable groundwater resources management. Current large-scale hydrological models do not adequately consider this subsurface heterogeneity. Here we show that regions with strong subsurface heterogeneity have enhanced present and future recharge rates due to a different sensitivity of recharge to climate variability compared with regions with homogeneous subsurface properties. Our study domain comprises the carbonate rock regions of Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East, which cover ∼25% of the total land area. We compare the simulations of two large-scale hydrological models, one of them accounting for subsurface heterogeneity. Carbonate rock regions strongly exhibit "karstification," which is known to produce particularly strong subsurface heterogeneity. Aquifers from these regions contribute up to half of the drinking water supply for some European countries. Our results suggest that water management for these regions cannot rely on most of the presently available projections of groundwater recharge because spatially variable storages and spatial concentration of recharge result in actual recharge rates that are up to four times larger for present conditions and changes up to five times larger for potential future conditions than previously estimated. These differences in recharge rates for strongly heterogeneous regions suggest a need for groundwater management strategies that are adapted to the fast transit of water from the surface to the aquifers.groundwater recharge | subsurface heterogeneity | water resources | climate variability | climate change

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Regional strategies for the accelerating global problem of groundwater depletion

Cited by 695 publications

References 89 publications

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Meteorological Elements in the North China District of China during 1960–2015

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Meteorological Elements in the North China District of China during 1960–2015

Tapping unsustainable groundwater stores for agricultural production in the High Plains Aquifer of Kansas, projections to 2110

Enhanced groundwater recharge rates and altered recharge sensitivity to climate variability through subsurface heterogeneity

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