In northern China, groundwater depletion reached catastrophic levels. Therefore, the Chinese government was looking for improved groundwater assessment and management tools. The GMEP (Groundwater Management and Exploration Package) project demonstrated that better observation and planning tools can assist decision makers. Focus of the project was on the Yellow River Basin and the Shiyang River Basin. GRACE satellite information formed the base in GMEP for past and current groundwater trends. WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning system) was used to evaluate future alternatives in sustainable groundwater management. To make the results from the WEAP and GRACE analysis easily available, a web-based tool was developed.
In northern China, groundwater depletion has reached catastrophic levels. Across the northern half of the country, groundwater over-pumping amounts to some 30 billion cubic meters a year. Across a wide area of this region, water tables have been dropping over two meters a year for a decade, even as water demands continue to rise.
The Chinese government is currently looking for directions to guide this process and a particular interest is expressed in improved groundwater assessment and management tools. The GMEP (Groundwater Management and Exploration Package) project will demonstrate that better observation and planning tools can assist decision makers.
Focus of the project is on the Yellow River Basin and the Shiyang River Basin. The two main technical tools included in the Groundwater Management and Exploration Package are GRACE and WEAP. GRACE satellite information will form the base in GMEP for current and past groundwater trends. WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning system) is a user-friendly package and will be used to evaluate future alternatives in sustainable groundwater management.
In an effort to make the results from the WEAP and GRACE analysis easily available, a web-based tool was developed. Users can view maps and animations of a number of observed and modeled quantities, including groundwater storage change, precipitation, soil moisture, and GRACE-derived monthly storage estimates. The data is visualized over the target area using Google maps. To date, only analysis over the Shiyang and Yellow River basin has been generated, but could be extended to any other basin.
To strengthen the Chinese-Dutch collaboration a conference on Advanced Tools in Water Resources Management was organized in Beijing on 26 and 27 May 2008.
Links
Related publications
2008 - FutureWater Report 76
Droogers, P., E. Hermans. 2008. Groundwater Management and Exploration Package: Scenario Analysis. FutureWater Report 76X
Groundwater Management and Exploration Package: Scenario Analysis
Droogers, P., E. Hermans
2008 - FutureWater Report 74
Hermans, E., P. Droogers, H. Winsemius. 2008. Groundwater management and evaluation: state of the art illustrated for Northern China. FutureWater Report 74XGroundwater management and evaluation: state of the art illustrated for Northern China
Hermans, E., P. Droogers, H. Winsemius
