ABSTRACT
Yangwen Jia Department of Water Resources, Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), Beijing, China
INTRODUCTION
This paper presents firstly basic information about the aquifer system of the North China Plain and then summarizes the main groundwater issues in the plain, which include groundwater problems, geological-environmental issues due to overexploitation, groundwater pollution, drying up of river channels, shrinking of wetlands and the decrease of the flow into the Bohai Sea. The introduction to the management practices in the plain includes a discussion of groundwater overexploitation control, water-saving, slightly-saline groundwater utilization, artificial recharge of the aquifer, and public participation. Based on the above basic information, the main issues and management practices, future vision and desired measures for sustainable groundwater management in the plain are discussed. It is concluded that the outlook for the groundwater aquifer restoration in the plain in the near future is not optimistic. Integrated implementation of technical, administrative and legal measures is desired to achieve safe exploitation of groundwater in the plain, to increase the river flow into the Bohai Sea by 2020, and subsequently to restore the deteriorated groundwater system in the following decade.
