Sustainable Water Management Solutions for Large Cities (Proceedings of symposium S2 held during the Seventh IAHS Scientific Assembly at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, April 2005). IAHS Publ. 293, 2005, 280-288

1 Center for Agricultural Resources Research, IGDB, CAS, Huaizhong Rd 286,
Shijiazhuang 050021, China

2 Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Komaba 4-6-1, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan

3 Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University, Matsudo 648, Matsudo-shi, Chiba 271-8510, Japan

4 Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Yayoi 1-33, Inage,
Chiba 263-8522, Japan

5 Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 335 Takashima-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-0878, Japan

Abstract Anthropogenic activities are a major force in changing the hydrological cycle as well as the climate. Assessing the impacts of human activities on hydrological environments is becoming a wide-focused topic. In this research, the authors attempt to link the urbanization, agricultural development, and the subsequent water resources exploitation with the change of water environments in Shijiazhuang region, China, and to evaluate the impacts of human activities on the regional hydrological cycle and water quality. The development of the urban expansion of Shijiazhuang is divided into four periods. According to historical records, the depth of the water table was once shallow. Over the greater part of the area it did not exceed 1–3 m depth before the 1950s. After the 1970s, the increase of groundwater pumping began to result in the fall of the groundwater level at a rate of 1 to 1.5 m year^-1. As a result, the hydrological system has changed greatly since. In order to explore the recharge and discharge mechanism, groundwater sampling in different seasons was conducted across the major part of the study area. It is shown that the groundwater accepted lateral recharge along the rivers besides lateral recharge from the mountain range. However, the spatial distribution of tritium along the Hutuo River suggests that groundwater has seldom accepted vertical recharge since the river dried-up.

Key words recharge and discharge of groundwater; regional hydrological cycle; Shijiazhuang, China; urbanization; water resources exploitation