Changes in Water Resources Systems:
Methodologies to Maintain Water Security and Ensure Integrated Management
(Proceedings of Symposium HS3006 at IUGG2007, Perugia, July 2007). IAHS Publ. 315, 2007, 258-265.
Groundwater
and its association with sustainability of agriculture in the North China Plain
Jianyao Chen1, Yoshihiro Fukushima2 & Makoto Taniguchi2
1 School of Geographical Science and Planning, Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) University, 135 Xingang Xi Road, Guangzhou 510275, China
chenjyao@mail.sysu.edu.cn or chenjianyao@hotmail.com
2 Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Motoyama Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan
Abstract During 1981–2000 annual precipitation decreased in the North China Plain (NCP), based on monthly data from 20 meteorological stations. Groundwater tables in the lower reach remained relatively stable, with a seasonal fluctuation of approximately ±2 m, while it decreased roughly 1 m year-1 in the piedmont of the plain, mainly due to overpumping of groundwater and reducing precipitation. Diversions from the Yellow River contributed to this spatial disparity, and three different temporal patterns of groundwater table change were identified in the lower reach. Groundwater resources play an important role in water supply for irrigation and domestic water use, especially in extreme years of drought, and it is thus a major factor, affecting the sustainability of agriculture in the NCP.
Key
words agriculture;
groundwater; North China Plain; sustainability; Yellow River