Impact of Land Use Change on Groundwater Recharge in Guishui River Basin, China

Key words: 
• groundwater recharge /
• land use change /
• soil water balance /
• hydrological processes

Abstract: It is important to understand how land use change impacts groundwater recharge, especially for regions that are undergoing
rapid urbanization and there is limited surface water. In this study, the hydrological processes and recharge ability of various land use
types in Guishui River Basin, China (in Beijing Municipality) were analyzed. The impact of land use change was investigated based on
water balance modeling, WetSpass and GIS. The results indicate that groundwater recharge accounts for only 21.16% of the
precipitation, while 72.54% is lost in the form of evapotranspiration. The annual-lumped groundwater recharge rate decreases in the
order of cropland, grassland, urban land, and forest. Land use change has resulted in a decrease of 4 × 106 m3 of yearly groundwater
recharge in the study area, with a spatially averaged rate of 100.48 mm/yr and 98.41 mm/yr in 1980 and 2005, respectively. This
variation has primarily come from an increase of urban area and rural settlements, as well as a decrease of cropland.