Comprehensive evaluation on the ecological function of groundwater in the Shiyang River watershed

Min Liu; Zhen-long Nie; Le Cao; Li-fang Wang; Hui-xiong Lu; Zhe Wang; Pu-cheng Zhu

doi:10.19637/j.cnki.2305-7068.2021.04.006

Volume 9 Issue 4

Dec. 2021

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Article Navigation > Journal of Groundwater Science and Engineering > 2021 > 9(4): 326-340

Liu M, Nie ZL, Cao L, et al. 2021. Comprehensive evaluation on the ecological function of groundwater in the Shiyang River watershed. Journal of Groundwater Science and Engineering, 9(4): 326-340 doi: 10.19637/j.cnki.2305-7068.2021.04.006

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Comprehensive evaluation on the ecological function of groundwater in the Shiyang River watershed

doi: 10.19637/j.cnki.2305-7068.2021.04.006

Min Liu^{1, 2},
Zhen-long Nie^{1, 2
,
,},
Le Cao^{1, 2},
Li-fang Wang^{1, 2},
Hui-xiong Lu³,
Zhe Wang^{1, 2},
Pu-cheng Zhu^{1, 2}

1.
Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, CAGS, Shijiazhuang 050061, China
2.
Key Laboratory of Groundwater Sciences and Engineering, Ministry of Natural Resources, Shijiazhuang 050061, China
3.
Airborne Survey and Remote Sensing Center of Nuclear Industry, Shijiazhuang 050002, China

More Information

Corresponding author: nzlngj@163.com
Received Date: 2021-03-02
Accepted Date: 2021-10-26
Publish Date: 2021-12-15

Abstract

Abstract

With an arid climate and shortage of water resources, the groundwater dependent ecosystems in the oasis–desert ecotone of the Shiyang River Watershed has been extremely damaged, and the water crisis in the oasis has become a major concern in the social and the scientific community. In this study, the degeneration characteristics of the groundwater ecological function was identified and comprehensive evaluated, based on groundwater depth data, vegetation quadrat and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from Landsat program. The results showed that (1) the suitable groundwater depth for sustainable ecology in the Shiyang River Watershed is about 2-4 m; (2) the terms of degenerative, qualitative and disastrous stages of the groundwater ecological function are defined with the groundwater depths of about 5 m, 7 m and 10 m; (3) generally, the groundwater ecological function in the oasis-desert ecotone of the lower reaches of Shiyang River Watershed is weak with an area of 1 397.9 km² identified as the severe deterioration region, which accounted 74.7% of the total area. In the meantime, the percentages of the good, mild and moderate deterioration areas of groundwater ecological function are 3.5%, 5.5% and 16.3%, respectively, which were mainly distributed in the Qingtu lake area and the southeastern area of the Shoucheng town; (4) the degradation and shrinkage of natural oasis could be attributed to the dramatic groundwater decline, which is generally caused by irrational use of water and soil resources. This study could provide theoretical basis and scientific support for the decision-making in environmental management and ecological restoration of the Shiyang River Watershed.

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References(37)

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