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<p>Groundwater depletion is a critical global challenge, particularly in intensively cultivated drylands, with few documented cases of successful recovery. Here, we report a striking reversal of long-term groundwater decline in the North China Plain, one of the world’s most severely depleted aquifers. Based on a comprehensive analysis of groundwater levels from over 2000 monitoring wells spanning the past two decades, we show that groundwater levels have risen at an average rate of ~0.7 m year<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup> since 2020, surpassing 2005 levels by 2024. This recovery is driven by a combination of large-scale surface water diversion from the humid south and stringent groundwater pumping regulations, further amplified by wet years (e.g., 2021). From 2005 to 2023, these policies reduced annual groundwater abstraction by ~12 km<sup>3</sup> and increased environmental water allocations to over 7 km<sup>3</sup> since 2021, promoting aquifer recharge and restoring environmental flows. Our findings demonstrate that rapid, large-scale groundwater recovery is achievable through integrated water management and targeted policy interventions across extensive regions (~130,000 km<sup>2</sup>).</p>

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Unprecedented large-scale aquifer recovery through human intervention

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月7日

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  • Di Long,
  • Yuancheng Xu,
  • Yingjie Cui,
  • Yanhong Cui,
  • James J. Butler Jr.,
  • Liang Dong,
  • Longfeng Wang,
  • Dongyong Liu,
  • Yoshihide Wada,
  • Litang Hu,
  • Guoying Bai,
  • Binghua Li,
  • Shufang Wang,
  • Xizhi Nong,
  • Yang Cai,
  • Chunsheng Cheng,
  • Yuhan Mu,
  • Yu Qiao,
  • Jianhua Wang,
  • Hao Wang,
  • Bridget R. Scanlon

摘要

Groundwater depletion is a critical global challenge, particularly in intensively cultivated drylands, with few documented cases of successful recovery. Here, we report a striking reversal of long-term groundwater decline in the North China Plain, one of the world’s most severely depleted aquifers. Based on a comprehensive analysis of groundwater levels from over 2000 monitoring wells spanning the past two decades, we show that groundwater levels have risen at an average rate of ~0.7 m year−1 since 2020, surpassing 2005 levels by 2024. This recovery is driven by a combination of large-scale surface water diversion from the humid south and stringent groundwater pumping regulations, further amplified by wet years (e.g., 2021). From 2005 to 2023, these policies reduced annual groundwater abstraction by ~12 km3 and increased environmental water allocations to over 7 km3 since 2021, promoting aquifer recharge and restoring environmental flows. Our findings demonstrate that rapid, large-scale groundwater recovery is achievable through integrated water management and targeted policy interventions across extensive regions (~130,000 km2).