Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Holistic assessment of groundwater resources and regional environmental problems in the North China Plain

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Water balance components of the North China Plain (NCP) were analyzed, indicating the decrease both in precipitation and evaporation. The decreased precipitation and expansion of water use for agriculture, industrial and domestic purposes have caused a water crisis, which was managed until now by diverting water from the Yellow River and over exploitation of groundwater. The groundwater resource was assessed by estimating its recharge in both upper unconfined and lower confined layers, yielding a total value of 1.65 × 1010 m3/a. Total groundwater use was estimated and judged by the actual water table drawdown. Salt accumulation, water table decrease, fluoride and nitrate pollution were all found to be major regional environmental problems. Furthermore, heavy metals were found in high content in the soil and surface water in suburbs of large cities, posing a potential risk of pollution in the groundwater. It has been verified by isotropic data that dry conditions have occurred since 10 ka and are therefore part of the natural process. Possible solutions for water crises in the NCP are proposed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Chen JY (1997) Application of multi-inputs linear models MLM/MLPM in Zhaoniu River of Shandong Province. Prog Geogr 16(2):48–54 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY (2003) Study on nitrate pollution in groundwater in the North China Plain from the viewpoint of groundwater flow system and land-use change based on chemistry and isotopes. Dissertation, Chiba University, Japan

  • Chen Mx, Ma FS (2002) Groundwater resources and environment of China. Earthquake Publishing House of China, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen ZY, Zhang GH, Xu JM (1998) Paleoclimate record deduced from groundwater and climate change implications of groundwater resources in North China. Acta Geosci Sinica Bull Chin Acad Geol Sci 19(4):338–345 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY, Tang CY, Sakura S, Kondoh A, Shen YJ, Ouyang Z (2001) The impacts of diversion from the Yellow River on the local aquifer-case study in Shandong Province, China. In: Seiler KP, Wohnlich S (eds) New approaches characterizing groundwater flow. A.A. Balkema Publishers, Lisse, The Netherlands, pp 1143–1447

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY, Tang CY, Sakura S, Kondoh A, Shen YJ (2002) Groundwater flow and geochemistry in the lower reach of the Yellow River: case study in Shandong Province China. Hydrogeol J 10:587–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen ZY, Zhang GH, Nie ZL, Nan YJ (2002) Groundwater isotopic stratification and its implications in North China. Earth Sci J China Univ Geosci 27(1):97–104 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY, Tang CY, Shen YJ, Sakura S (2003) Use of water balance calculation and tritium to examine the dropdown of groundwater table in the piedmont of the North China Plain (NCP). Environ Geol 44:564–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen ZY, Qi JX, Xu JM, Xu JM, Ye H, Nan YJ (2003) Paleoclimatic interpretation of the past 30 ka from isotopic studies of the deep confined aquifer of the North China Plain. Appl Geochem 18:997–1009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY, Tang CY, Sakura S, Kondoh A, Shen YJ, Song XF (2004a) Measurement and analysis of redistribution of soil moisture and solutes in a maize field in the lower reach of the Yellow River. Hydrol Process 18:2263–2273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY, Tang CY, Sakura S, Kondoh A, Yu JJ, Shimada J, Tanaka T (2004b) Spatial geochemical and isotopic characteristics associated with groundwater flow in the North China Plain. Hydrol Process 18:3133–3146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY, Fukushima Y, Taniguchi M (2005a) Water use and its impact zone in the lower reach of the Yellow River. In: Shang H (ed) Proceedings of the 2nd Yellow River Forum on keeping healthy life of the river, vol I. The Yellow River Conservancy Publishing House, Zhengzhou, pp 97–106

  • Chen JY, Tang CY, Sakura S, Yu JJ, Fukushima Y (2005b) Nitrate pollution from agriculture in different hydrogeological zones of the regional groundwater flow system in the North China Plain. Hydrogeol J 13:481–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY, Tang CY, Yu JJ (2006) Use of 18O, 2H and 15N to identify nitrate contamination of groundwater in a wastewater irrigated field near the city of Shijiazhuang, China. J Hydrol 326:367–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JY, Fukushima Y, Taniguchi M (2007a) Groundwater and its association with sustainability in the North China Plain. In: van de Giesen N, Xia J, Rosbjerg D, Fukushima Y (eds) Changes in water resources systems: methodology to maintain water security and ensure integrated management. IAHS 315, pp 258–265

  • Chen JY, Taniguchi M, Liu GQ, Miyaoka K, Onodera S, Tokunaga T, Fukushima Y (2007b) Nitrate pollution of groundwater in the Yellow River delta, China. Hydrogeol J 15:1605–1614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen CY, Pickhardt PC, Xu MQ, Folt CL (2008) Mercury and arsenic bioaccumulation and eutrophication in Baiyangdian Lake, China. Water Air Soil Pollut 190:115–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng SP (2003) Heavy metal pollution in China: origin, pattern and control. Environ Sci Pollut Res 10(3):192–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark ID, Fritz P (1997) Environmental isotopes in hydrogeology. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai JC, Song JM, Li XG, Yuan HM, Li N, Zheng GX (2007) Environmental changes reflected by sedimentary geochemistry in recent hundred years of Jiaozhou Bay, North China. Environ Pollut 145:656–667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang S, Chen XL, Li HZ (1993) Study on the relationship between precipitation and water/salt movement in the North China Plain. Chin J Soil Sci 24:18–22 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster S, Garduno H, Evans R, Olson D, Tian Y, Zhang WZ, Han ZS (2004) Quaternary aquifer of the North China Plain—assessing and achieving groundwater resource sustainability. Hydrogeol J 12:81–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He SJ, Jiang DH (1996) Cotton and crop production and their classification in the North China Plain. Econ Geogr 16(4):89–93 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • He S, Zhang GJ (2005) Studies on water resources allocation methods of river basins. China Water Resour 19:13–16 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaton THE (1986) Isotopic studies of nitrogen pollution in the hydrosphere and atmosphere: a review. Chem Geol 59:87–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu CS, Cheng YS, Yu GR (2001) Effects of nitrogenous fertilizer application on nitrate-N concentration of soil solution in North China Plain. Resour Sci 23(6):46–48 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu CS, Saseendram A, Green TR, Ma L, Ahuja LR (2006) Evaluating nitrogen and water management in a double-cropping system using RZWQM. Vadose Zone J 5:493–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang SW, Jin JY (2008) Status of heavy metals in agricultural soils as affected by different patterns of land use. Environ Monit Assess 139:317–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang MS, Liu SQ (1995) Groundwater contamination due to agricultural chemicals. Pollut Contr Technol 8(3):140–143 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang YF, Li YZ, Li BG, Chen DL (2001) Water and nitrogen optimal management under agricultural field of the North China Plain. Trans CSAE 17(2):37–41 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaneko S, Kondoh A, Shen YJ, Tang CY (2005) The relation among the water cycle, grain production and human activities in the North China Plain. J Jpn Soc Hydrol Water Resour 18(5):575–583 (in Japanese)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreitler CW, Jones DC (1975) Natural soil nitrate: the cause of the nitrate contamination of groundwater in Runnels County Texas. Groundwater 13:5–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin YM, Ren HZ, Yu JJ, Yao ZJ (2000) Balance between land use and water resources in the North China Plain. J Natur Resour 15(3):252–258 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Zhu WH (1991) Environmental characteristics of regional groundwater in relation to fluoride poisoning in North China. Environ Geol Water Resour 18(1):3–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren ME (2006) Sediment discharge of the Yellow River, China: past, present and future—a synthesis. Adv Earth Sci 21(6):551–563 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ren FH, Jiao SQ (1988) Distribution and formation of high-fluorine groundwater in China. Environ Geol Water Resour 12(1):3–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shimada J, Tang CY, Iwatsuki T, Xu S, Tanaka T, Sakura Y, Song X, Yang YH (2002) Groundwater flow system of Hebei Plain area and recent groundwater environment changes. In: Research Report of Water Resources Research Center No. 22, Kyoto University, pp 95–99

  • Sun LN, Zhang YH, Sun TH, Gong ZQ, Lin X, Li HB (2006) Temporal–spatial distribution and variability of cadmium contamination in soils in Shenyang Zhangshi irrigation area, China. J Environ Sci 18(6):1241–1246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang GX, Cheng GD (2001) Fluoride distribution in water and the governing factors of environment in arid north-west China. J Arid Environ 49:601–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Q, Liu JJ, Wang WD, Xu HZ, Sun WY (2004) The mechanism of Quaternary paleoenvironmental change in circum-Bohai Sea region and North China Plain. Geol Surv Res 27(3):129–138 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang MX, Wu WL, Liu WN (2006) Spatial analysis of groundwater NO3-N concentration in agriculture-dominated regions based on GIS-based BPNN. Trans CSAE 12:39–43 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Chen T, Ge YH, Jia YF (2008) Studies on land application of sewage sludge and its limiting factors. J Hazard Mater 160:554–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu C, Xu QH, Zhang XQ, Ma YH (1996) Paleochannels on the North China Plain: types and distributions. Geomorphology 18:5–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu K, Chen JY, Liu SP, Xie XQ (1997) Research on water-consumption characteristics of crops and water use efficiency in agriculture in the Yucheng Area, North China Plain. In: Liu CM, Yu HN (eds) Study on water movement experiment in soil–plant–atmospheric continuum. Meteorology Press, Beijing, pp 131–138 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie XM, Guo HY, Tang KW, Yin MW (2002) Dual coupled model for integrated assessment of surface water and groundwater in North China Plain. Shuili Xuebao 12:95–100 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZY (1988) Approach to increase of fluorine-bearing amount in groundwater, Huaibei, Anhui Province. In: Proceedings of the national symposium of hydrogeology technology. Zhengding, Hebei Province (in Chinese)

  • Xu J, Haginoya S, Saito K, Motoya K (2005) Surface heat balance and pan evaporation trends in Eastern Asia in the period 1971 to 2000. Hydrol Process 19:2161–2186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Chen JJ, Wang XY, Li XH (2008) Heavy metal concentrations distribution around the coal gangue pile of Yanma Mine. Res Environ Sci 21(1):90–96 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao ZJ (1995) Paleoclimate record of geothermal water for last 0.03 Ma in North China. Earth Sci J China Univ of Geosci 20(4):383–388 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ye Q, Zhang CL (2005) Microbial bioremediation of metal and radionuclide contaminated soils and groundwater. Geol J China Univ 11(2):199–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Yi SH, Saito Y, Oshima H, Zhou YQ, Wei HL (2002) Holocene environmental history inferred from pollen assemblages in the Huanghe (Yellow River) delta, China: climate change and human impact. Q Sci Rev 22(5–7):609–628

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang CY, Guo XH (2005) Application of nitrogen isotope techniques: the prerequisite analysis of soil organic nitrogen as sources of nitrate contamination of groundwater. Geochimica 34(5):533–540 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang ZH, Li LR (2005) Groundwater resources of china. Publishing House of China Map, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang WL, Tian ZX, Zhang N, Li XQ (1996) Nitrate pollution of groundwater in northern China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 59:223–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang GH, Chen ZY, Fei YH (2000a) Relationship between the formation of groundwater and the evolution of regional hydrologic cycle in North China Plain. Adv Water Sci 11(4):415–420 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang ZH, Shen ZL, Xue YQ, Ren FH, Shi DH, Yin ZZ, Zhong ZS, Sun XR (2000b) Evolution of groundwater and environment in the North China Plain. Geological Publishing House, Beijing, China (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang WD, He QC, Fang H (2006) Benefit calculation of groundwater exploitation in North China Plain. Chin J Geol Hazard Contr 17(3):110–113 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 40571027), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (grant no. 9251027501000021) and Innovation and Application Research Fund from Water Sciences Department of Guangdong Province (2009–2011). Thanks are expressed to the anonymous reviewers, Mr James Kirkham of CSIRO Land and Water, and Mr Philip Fountain of Australian National University for improvements to an earlier draft of this paper.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Jianyao Chen

    Present address: CSIRO Land and Water, GPO BOX 1666, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275, Guangzhou, China

    Jianyao Chen

Authors
  1. Jianyao Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianyao Chen.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 411 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chen, J. Holistic assessment of groundwater resources and regional environmental problems in the North China Plain. Environ Earth Sci 61, 1037–1047 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0425-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0425-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation