Changes of groundwater flow field of Luanhe River Delta under the human activities and its impact on the ecological environment in the past 30 years

The Luanhe River Delta is located in the center of the Circum-Bohai Sea Economic Zone. It enjoys rapid economic and social development while suffering relatively water scarcity. The overexploitation of groundwater in the Luanhe River Delta in recent years has caused the continuous drop of groundwater level and serious environmental and geological problems. This study systematically analyzes the evolution characteristics of the population, economy, and groundwater exploitation in the Luanhe River Delta and summarizes the change patterns of the groundwater flow regime in different aquifers in the Luanhe River Delta according to previous water resource assessment data as well as the latest groundwater survey results. Through comparison of major source/sink terms and groundwater resources, the study reveals the impacts of human activities on the groundwater resources and ecological environment in the study area over the past 30 years from 1990 to 2020. The results are as follows. The average annual drop rate of shallow groundwater and the deep groundwater in the centers of depression cones is 0.4 m and 1.64 m, respectively in the Luanhe River Delta in the past 30 years. The depression cones of shallow and deep groundwater in the study area cover an area of 545.32 km² and 548.79 km², respectively, accounting for more than 10% of the total area of the Luanhe River Delta. Overexploitation of groundwater has further aggravated land subsidence. As a result, two large-scale subsidence centers have formed, with a maximum subsidence rate of up to 120 mm/a. The drop of groundwater level has induced some ecological problems in the Luanhe River Delta area, such as the zero flow and water quality deterioration of rivers and continuous shrinkage of natural wetlands and water. Meanwhile, the proportion of natural wetland area to the total wetland area has been decreased from 99% to 8% and the water area from 1776 km² to 263 km². These results will provide data for groundwater overexploitation control, land subsidence prevention, and ecological restoration in plains and provide services for water resources management and national land space planning.