Water Table to Drop Dramatically Near Beijing

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A recent study by the Hebei Bureau of Hydrology and Water Resources Survey estimates that the shallow groundwater table at China’s central Hebei Plain, south of Beijing, will drop 16.2 meters on average by 2030, while the deep groundwater table will fall up to 39.9 meters on average. The continued lowering of the water table is expected to exacerbate already serious ecological and environmental problems in the region, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The Bureau made the projection based on current rates of groundwater withdrawal in the region. The central Hebei Plain covers roughly 62,000 square kilometers and is a major source of the water supply for Beijing and Tianjin, two Chinese “megacities” with a combined population of 26 million people. Groundwater accounts for as much as 90 percent of the regional water supply, but is experiencing severe overdraft due to rapidly rising demand from urban residents, industries, and agriculture.

The central Hebei Plain possesses average annual freshwater resources of an estimated 7.1 billion cubic meters. Yet in recent years, the region has had to supply an average water demand of 12.1 billion cubic meters per year. Annual water usage is expected to increase further to 15.8 billion cubic meters by 2030. Severe overexploitation of groundwater has occurred to make up for the shortfall between water supply and demand. Areas currently experiencing shallow groundwater overdraft cover an estimated 15,000 square kilometers, while those witnessing deep overdraft cover 40,000 square kilometers, according to the study.

In addition to lowering water tables, the groundwater overdraft has led to ecological problems such as the drying-up of aquifers, land subsidence, and the formation of depression cones (areas where withdrawals have lowered the water table immediately beneath the well head). According to preliminary statistics, the area of dried-up aquifers has extended to 1,700 square kilometers. And by 1996, falling water tables had contributed to land subsidence of more than 700 millimeters over some 621 square kilometers—an area that is projected to grow to 28,836 square kilometers by 2030. This may cause widespread damage to urban centers—undermining buildings and rupturing roadways, water lines, sewer systems, and other infrastructure, according to Worldwatch Institute's Vital Signs 2006-2007 report. In addition, the Hebei Plain currently contains some 21 depression cone regions covering an area of 40,000 square kilometers, a number that is also likely to expand as the situation deteriorates.

To slow this worsening trend, the study proposes better management of the region’s groundwater resources through administrative, legal, and market tools. It also calls on the Chinese government to promote water-saving efforts to ease the conflicts between supply and demand, and to merge or shut down outdated factories that consume excessive amounts of water.