The effectiveness of the south-to-north water diversion middle route project on water delivery and groundwater recovery in North China Plain

Chong Zhang; Qingyun Duan; Pat J.F. Yeh; Yun Pan; Huili Gong; Wei Gong; Zhenhua Di; Xiaohui Lei; Weihong Liao; Zhiyong Huang; Longqun Zheng; Xueru Guo

doi:10.1029/2019WR026759

The effectiveness of the south-to-north water diversion middle route project on water delivery and groundwater recovery in North China Plain

Chong Zhang, Qingyun Duan, Pat J.F. Yeh, Yun Pan, Huili Gong, Wei Gong, Zhenhua Di, Xiaohui Lei, Weihong Liao, Zhiyong Huang, Longqun Zheng, Xueru Guo

Malaysia Sch of Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

82 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Project (MRP), which started its operation in December 2014, was designed to transfer water from Danjiangkou Reservoir (DR) in Hanjiang River Basin to North China Plain (NCP) to alleviate water shortage and long-term groundwater depletion in the water-receiving region. This study investigates the effectiveness of actual MRP operation during 2015–2018 using the observed water budget data collected from DR and the groundwater level data from 559 monitoring wells. Assuming that MRP was in operation during 2005–2014, ensemble water diversion simulations were performed to study the sensitivity of MRP effectiveness to two important factors: the downstream water demand of DR (D_wd) and the ratio (I_r) of water diversion volume (Q_d) replacing groundwater pumping in NCP. Even though the observed and simulated mean annual Q_d during 2015–2018 (i.e., 4.3 and 7.0 km³/year, respectively) failed to meet the original water delivery target of 9.5 km³/year due to its short operation and the coincidence with a dry cycle, MRP is effective in groundwater recovery as an increasing trend (+0.3 km³/year) in groundwater storage (GWS) was observed in NCP during 2015–2018. MRP's effectiveness is sensitive to D_wd and I_r. D_wd should not exceed 23.0 km³/year to guarantee Q_d reaching the original target, and I_r should not be less than 33% to guarantee GWS recovery. Those findings suggest that a reasonable decrease of D_wd and an increase of I_r are the recommended pathway to ensure the effectiveness of MRP in meeting both water delivery and groundwater recovery targets.

Original language	English
Article number	e2019WR026759
Number of pages	14
Journal	Water Resources Research
Volume	56
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026759
Publication status	Published - Oct 2020

Keywords

groundwater recovery
hydrological teleconnection
reservoir operation
South-to-North Water Diversion Project
water delivery
water management

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10.1029/2019WR026759

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@article{f964968481d64eb09572af8c0e485475,

title = "The effectiveness of the south-to-north water diversion middle route project on water delivery and groundwater recovery in North China Plain",

abstract = "The South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Project (MRP), which started its operation in December 2014, was designed to transfer water from Danjiangkou Reservoir (DR) in Hanjiang River Basin to North China Plain (NCP) to alleviate water shortage and long-term groundwater depletion in the water-receiving region. This study investigates the effectiveness of actual MRP operation during 2015–2018 using the observed water budget data collected from DR and the groundwater level data from 559 monitoring wells. Assuming that MRP was in operation during 2005–2014, ensemble water diversion simulations were performed to study the sensitivity of MRP effectiveness to two important factors: the downstream water demand of DR (Dwd) and the ratio (Ir) of water diversion volume (Qd) replacing groundwater pumping in NCP. Even though the observed and simulated mean annual Qd during 2015–2018 (i.e., 4.3 and 7.0 km3/year, respectively) failed to meet the original water delivery target of 9.5 km3/year due to its short operation and the coincidence with a dry cycle, MRP is effective in groundwater recovery as an increasing trend (+0.3 km3/year) in groundwater storage (GWS) was observed in NCP during 2015–2018. MRP's effectiveness is sensitive to Dwd and Ir. Dwd should not exceed 23.0 km3/year to guarantee Qd reaching the original target, and Ir should not be less than 33% to guarantee GWS recovery. Those findings suggest that a reasonable decrease of Dwd and an increase of Ir are the recommended pathway to ensure the effectiveness of MRP in meeting both water delivery and groundwater recovery targets.",

keywords = "groundwater recovery, hydrological teleconnection, reservoir operation, South-to-North Water Diversion Project, water delivery, water management",

author = "Chong Zhang and Qingyun Duan and Yeh, {Pat J.F.} and Yun Pan and Huili Gong and Wei Gong and Zhenhua Di and Xiaohui Lei and Weihong Liao and Zhiyong Huang and Longqun Zheng and Xueru Guo",

note = "Funding Information: This study was jointly supported by a research grant from Chinese Academy of Sciences Pioneer Exploration Project (no. XDA2006040104), National Basic Research Program of China (no. 2015CB953703), National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 41771456), and China Scholarship Council (201906040156). We thank the institutes who provided data for this study and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright}2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2020",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1029/2019WR026759",

language = "English",

volume = "56",

journal = "Water Resources Research",

issn = "0043-1397",

publisher = "American Geophysical Union",

number = "10",

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T1 - The effectiveness of the south-to-north water diversion middle route project on water delivery and groundwater recovery in North China Plain

AU - Zhang, Chong

AU - Duan, Qingyun

AU - Yeh, Pat J.F.

AU - Pan, Yun

AU - Gong, Huili

AU - Gong, Wei

AU - Di, Zhenhua

AU - Lei, Xiaohui

AU - Liao, Weihong

AU - Huang, Zhiyong

AU - Zheng, Longqun

AU - Guo, Xueru

N1 - Funding Information: This study was jointly supported by a research grant from Chinese Academy of Sciences Pioneer Exploration Project (no. XDA2006040104), National Basic Research Program of China (no. 2015CB953703), National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 41771456), and China Scholarship Council (201906040156). We thank the institutes who provided data for this study and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Publisher Copyright: ©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/10

Y1 - 2020/10

N2 - The South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Project (MRP), which started its operation in December 2014, was designed to transfer water from Danjiangkou Reservoir (DR) in Hanjiang River Basin to North China Plain (NCP) to alleviate water shortage and long-term groundwater depletion in the water-receiving region. This study investigates the effectiveness of actual MRP operation during 2015–2018 using the observed water budget data collected from DR and the groundwater level data from 559 monitoring wells. Assuming that MRP was in operation during 2005–2014, ensemble water diversion simulations were performed to study the sensitivity of MRP effectiveness to two important factors: the downstream water demand of DR (Dwd) and the ratio (Ir) of water diversion volume (Qd) replacing groundwater pumping in NCP. Even though the observed and simulated mean annual Qd during 2015–2018 (i.e., 4.3 and 7.0 km3/year, respectively) failed to meet the original water delivery target of 9.5 km3/year due to its short operation and the coincidence with a dry cycle, MRP is effective in groundwater recovery as an increasing trend (+0.3 km3/year) in groundwater storage (GWS) was observed in NCP during 2015–2018. MRP's effectiveness is sensitive to Dwd and Ir. Dwd should not exceed 23.0 km3/year to guarantee Qd reaching the original target, and Ir should not be less than 33% to guarantee GWS recovery. Those findings suggest that a reasonable decrease of Dwd and an increase of Ir are the recommended pathway to ensure the effectiveness of MRP in meeting both water delivery and groundwater recovery targets.

AB - The South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Project (MRP), which started its operation in December 2014, was designed to transfer water from Danjiangkou Reservoir (DR) in Hanjiang River Basin to North China Plain (NCP) to alleviate water shortage and long-term groundwater depletion in the water-receiving region. This study investigates the effectiveness of actual MRP operation during 2015–2018 using the observed water budget data collected from DR and the groundwater level data from 559 monitoring wells. Assuming that MRP was in operation during 2005–2014, ensemble water diversion simulations were performed to study the sensitivity of MRP effectiveness to two important factors: the downstream water demand of DR (Dwd) and the ratio (Ir) of water diversion volume (Qd) replacing groundwater pumping in NCP. Even though the observed and simulated mean annual Qd during 2015–2018 (i.e., 4.3 and 7.0 km3/year, respectively) failed to meet the original water delivery target of 9.5 km3/year due to its short operation and the coincidence with a dry cycle, MRP is effective in groundwater recovery as an increasing trend (+0.3 km3/year) in groundwater storage (GWS) was observed in NCP during 2015–2018. MRP's effectiveness is sensitive to Dwd and Ir. Dwd should not exceed 23.0 km3/year to guarantee Qd reaching the original target, and Ir should not be less than 33% to guarantee GWS recovery. Those findings suggest that a reasonable decrease of Dwd and an increase of Ir are the recommended pathway to ensure the effectiveness of MRP in meeting both water delivery and groundwater recovery targets.

KW - groundwater recovery

KW - hydrological teleconnection

KW - reservoir operation

KW - South-to-North Water Diversion Project

KW - water delivery

KW - water management

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JO - Water Resources Research

JF - Water Resources Research

IS - 10

M1 - e2019WR026759

ER -

The effectiveness of the south-to-north water diversion middle route project on water delivery and groundwater recovery in North China Plain

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Keywords

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