Xu et al. (2026) Quantifying Human and Climatic Contributions of Large‐Scale Groundwater Recovery in the North China Plain

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-01
• Authors: Yuancheng Xu, Di Long, Wenyu Jiang, Yingjie Cui, Fei Chen, Jianhua Wang, Yoshihide Wada
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr043052

Research Groups

• Institute of Hydrology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University

Short Summary

This study developed an integrated modeling framework to quantify the drivers of groundwater recovery in the North China Plain and found that human interventions were the dominant factor reversing depletion. The aquifer regained approximately 30 km³ of water, restoring a drought buffer comparable to the region's surface reservoir capacity.

Objective

• Investigate the mechanisms responsible for observed groundwater recovery in the North China Plain following decades of depletion

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional scale (North China Plain)
• Temporal Scale: Decadal scale (2015–2024)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Community Water Model, MODFLOW, priority-based water allocation module
• Data sources: Satellite data, observation data, reanalysis data

Main Results

• Human interventions accounted for 75% of the total groundwater level rise during 2015–2024
• Wet climate conditions (2021–2024) amplified recovery by 45%
• Lateral groundwater inflow from surrounding mountains supplied a persistent recharge source equivalent to ∼20% of vertical recharge

Contributions

• Provided a process-based understanding of groundwater recovery in the North China Plain
• Offered a transferable approach for assessing and managing aquifer restoration in other water-stressed regions globally

Funding

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91847302)
• Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Research Program (Grant No. XDA20060404)

Citation

@article{Xu2026Quantifying,
  author = {Xu, Yuancheng and Long, Di and Jiang, Wenyu and Cui, Yingjie and Chen, Fei and Wang, Jianhua and Wada, Yoshihide},
  title = {Quantifying Human and Climatic Contributions of Large‐Scale Groundwater Recovery in the North China Plain},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr043052},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr043052}
}