The Effect of Climatic and Non-climatic Factors on Groundwater Levels in the Jinghuiqu Irrigation District of the Shaanxi Province, China

Abstract

A chronic decline of the groundwater levels has become one of the hot issues affecting groundwater resources management. The rising global temperature, the high frequency of extreme weather (higher temperature and stronger evaporation, heavy or less rainfall), and unreasonable management policies have become important driving factors, causing a dynamic change in groundwater levels, in many regions. This study aims to explore the impact of climate and non-climate factors on groundwater levels in the Jinghuiqu irrigation district. The climatic phases were defined by rainfall anomalies, and the Mann–Kendall trend test statistic (M–K test) and Sen’s slope method were used to statistically analyze the influence of temperature (1950–2017) and rainfall (1980–2017) on the groundwater level. The results showed that: (1) Dry, normal, and wet phases occurred alternately, including two normal, two wet, and one dry periods (Wet 1980–1984; Normal 1985–1996; Dry 1997–2002; Wet 2003–2011; Normal 2012–2017). (2) The groundwater levels in the dry phase, decreased significantly by 0.62 m/year (p < 0.05), and the groundwater levels in the wet phases did not have a complete recovery, due to the excessive extraction of groundwater. Meanwhile, extreme weather became an important signal to reflect the change of groundwater levels. (3) The groundwater levels decreased significantly in the west and northwest (p < 0.05), but not in the southeast, due to the regional difference of groundwater extraction, which is the primary factor resulting in a chronic decline of groundwater levels. (4) Besides human activities, temperature had a higher correlation with groundwater levels (p < 0.05), which indicated that the potential impact of climate change on groundwater levels should not be ignored while setting groundwater resource management policies for a sustainable cycle of atmosphere–land–water.

Dynamic Response Characteristics of Shallow Groundwater Level to Hydro-Meteorological Factors and Well Irrigation Water Withdrawals under Different Conditions of Groundwater Buried Depth

“…Fully understanding the variation characteristics of groundwater level is a prerequisite for rational development and utilization of groundwater resources [10][11][12]. It is indicated from many previous studies that groundwater level is affected by many factors, such as hydro-meteorological conditions, ground factors, and human activities [13][14][15][16]. Leblanc et al found that there was a sharp decline in groundwater level in the Murray-Darling basin in Australia from 2000 to 2007 due to the extreme drought [17].…”

Rainfall Forecasting Using an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System with a Grid Partitioning Approach to Mitigating Flood Disasters

“…The highest anomaly occurred in June 2021 at 171 mm2. Several factors that cause rainfall anomalies include climate change, atmospheric stability, population density, and local topography (Harada et al, 2020;Lakshmi & Schaaf, 2001;Lima et al, 2017;Zhao et al, 2019). Rainfall anomalies in Indonesia significantly impact the agricultural sector, especially food crop production (Dirgahayu et al, 2012).…”

Impact of Climate Change on Groundwater Management in the Northwestern Part of Uzbekistan

“…Academics and governments generally agree that climate change also impacts the dynamic changes in water table depths [15][16][17][18][19]. Prolonged droughts and low levels of rainfall may cause a significant decline in water table depth [20].…”