Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562

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Science of the Total Environment

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv

Groundwater depletion and contamination: Spatial distribution of

groundwater resources sustainability in China
Xiyue Jia a,1, David O'Connor a,1, Deyi Hou a,⁎, Yuanliang Jin a, Guanghe Li a, Chunmiao Zheng b, Yong Sik Ok c,
Daniel C.W. Tsang d, Jian Luo e
a
School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
b
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
c
Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
d
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
e
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0355, United States

H I G H L I G H T S G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T

• Developed an indicator system for sus-

tainability assessment of groundwater
resources
• Assessed the spatial distribution of
groundwater resource sustainability in
China
• Analyzed the interrelationship of differ-
ent sustainability indicators
• Evaluated the effect of development sta-
tus on groundwater resource

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: China is facing a groundwater depletion and deterioration crisis, culminating from long-term over-exploitation
Received 7 February 2019 and groundwater contamination. Aggravating factors include population growth, unprecedented urbanization
Received in revised form 28 March 2019 and climate change. Sustainable groundwater management is called for, however, a valid means for a national-
Accepted 29 March 2019
scale assessment of groundwater resource sustainability does not currently exist. Here we present a drivers-
Available online 31 March 2019
pressures-states-impact-response (DPSIR) assessment framework. Based on this framework, groundwater sus-
Editor: Damia Barcelo tainability indices for mainland China's 31 provinces and municipalities were derived, with an average score of
59.5 out of 100, ranging from 47.3 for Tianjin to 72.9 for Tibet. We found that due to fewer Drivers and better
Keywords: States, groundwater resources in southern China are far more sustainable than those in the northern and eastern
Groundwater resource areas. An appraisal of subcategories shed light on the importance of affording attention to externalities such as
Groundwater depletion societal, economic and environmental factors, which are interrelated as complex systems. Based on the assess-
DPSIR ment findings, implications for policy and decision-making suggestions for sustainable management of China's
Groundwater contamination groundwater resources are put forward.
Sustainability assessment
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Hou). Groundwater provides essential water for humans and human de-
1
These authors contributed equally to this work. pendent ecosystems. In China, groundwater provides drinking water

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.457
0048-9697/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
552 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562

for N400 cities. In northern China, two thirds of drinking water, half of promoted, wastewater treatment will be improved, polluted ground-
industrial water, and a third of irrigation water is supplied from ground- water remediation will be implemented and policies for groundwater
water sources (MEP, 2011). In rural areas, domestic potable water is management will be modified (Hou and Li, 2017) (Song et al., 2019).
mainly provided by private wells (Jia et al., 2018). It was reported in Depletion and deterioration of groundwater resources by human ac-
2011 that there were an estimated 53.8 million groundwater extraction tivities generates multiple impacts to human-nature systems and nega-
wells in China. Only 23 years earlier, that number was just 4 million tive consequences for sustainable development. Therefore, sustainable
(Chen and Ma, 2017). Evidently, groundwater is an increasingly impor- groundwater management is called for. For this, a comprehensive as-
tant resource for the population of China. sessment of the groundwater sustainability situation is essential
Due to unsustainable anthropogenic activities, severe groundwater (Megdal, 2018) in order to pinpoint and address the issue effectively.
depletion has occurred in China, particularly in the mainly arid and To appraise groundwater sustainability, there are a number of ground-
semi-arid areas of the North China Plain and across northwestern water sustainability assessment (GSA) models/tools, covering aspects
China, thus threatening food production, industrial domestic water sup- such as groundwater quantity, quality, safe utilization and venerability
plies and the sustainable development (Jin and Feng, 2013; Yang et al., (Cao et al., 2013a; Cheng et al., 2010; Zhan et al., 2017). However,
2006). In addition, groundwater overexploitation has caused severe there is no comprehensive national-scale sustainability assessment
land subsidence, sea water intrusion and ecological damage in eastern framework that has been applied to China. One candidate model is the
China (Han et al., 2011; Ye et al., 2015). Between 1959 and 2013, for ex- “Groundwater resource sustainability indicators”, first proposed by the
ample, the eastern city of Tianjin subsided by an estimated 3.44 m (Ye United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
et al., 2015), and hundreds of earth fissures have been observed in the (UNESCO), which includes ten indicators based on the diver-pressure-
Hebei Plain and Fenwei Basin (Lv et al., 2014; Pen et al., 2007). state-impact-response (DPSIR) theory (Vrba et al., 2007). But while
Moreover, groundwater pollution levels are reported to be severe. the indicators are effective for assessing groundwater quality and quan-
Over 60% of the groundwater in China is either poor or very poor quality tity, they do not explicitly address the three pillars of sustainability (so-
(class IV or V), according to the Ministry of Land and Resource's national ciety, economy, environment).
groundwater monitoring network (Bagordo et al., 2016; Hou et al., Frameworks based on the DPSIR theory or the three dimensions of
2018a). A nationwide water quality survey revealed at least one harmful sustainability have been applied at a local level (e.g. provincial) in
organic compound in 48% of samples tested (Guo and Wang, 2011). For China (Bagordo et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2015; Pandey et al., 2010). How-
instance, in the Datong Basin, arsenic concentrations can be as high as ever, they are not implementable on a national-scale. In these GSA
452 μg/L (Zhang et al., 2013). Such contaminants derive from both nat- frameworks, several nationally important aspects of groundwater sus-
ural pedogenic sources and anthropogenic activities (Gu et al., 2013; tainability are not considered, such as the impact of groundwater deple-
Kang et al., 2017), posing a public health risk (Jin et al., 2019; tion to production systems. Moreover, many of the qualitative
O'Connor et al., 2019a). An estimated 19.6 million people are at risk of indicators used are based on local assumptions, making comparison be-
the harmful effects of arsenic in their drinking water supplies, and tween regions difficult. Consequently, a comprehensive and national-
high total dissolved solids (TDS), Fe, Mn, As and F are also frequently ob- scale GSA framework is needed.
served in monitoring wells (Jia et al., 2018) as well as other emerging The key objectives of the present study were as follows: (1) to de-
contaminants (O'Connor et al., 2019b). Among anthropogenic activities, velop the first comprehensive GSA framework for a national-scale as-
intensive agricultural and industrial activities are identified as key cul- sessment of China including the dimensions of society, economy and
prits for deteriorating groundwater quality. Fertilizer and manure environment; (2) to undertake the first national assessment of main-
used for food production are sources of nitrogen in groundwater (Gu land China, including calculation of groundwater sustainability scores
et al., 2013). Contaminated groundwater also threatens food safety for the different provinces and municipalities; and (3) to put forward
when pollutants enter the food chain through crop irrigation. implications for decision-making and policy implementation based on
Some researchers have suggested that groundwater systems are part the assessment.
of the coupled human-nature system. Consequently, to support the es-
tablishment of a comprehensive GSA framework, existing theories of
the interactions between groundwater and human-nature system 2. Method and data
need to be considered. Undoubtedly, groundwater is an essential re-
source for humans, not only for domestic water supplies but also for in- 2.1. Proposed groundwater sustainability assessment framework based on
dustry, and agricultural food production. For natural systems, DPSIR theory
groundwater delivers water to surface water systems and plants, and
maintains ground stability (Zhang et al., 2015). Intensive industrial The DPSIR causal framework was first developed by the European
and agricultural production has led to the overexploitation of ground- Environment Agency as an extension of the Pressure-State-Response
water. Falling water tables are the most direct issue, which leads to in- (PSR) model developed by the Organization for Economic Co-
creased difficulty/cost in groundwater extraction (Famiglietti, 2014), operation and Development (OECD). It provides researchers a way to
as well as changes in base flow to rivers, lakes, springs, wetlands and analyze interactions between human activities and environmental sys-
surface plants, and ecosystem degradation (Wada et al., 2010). More- tems (Khajuria and Ravindranath, 2012; Lin et al., 2013; Pirrone et al.,
over, land subsidence and sea water intrusion can occur, thus roads, rail- 2005). The five components involved in DPSIR are interconnected
ways and building infrastructure may be damaged (Dong et al., 2014; with each other. Drivers are the forces of economic and societal devel-
Shi and Jiao, 2014). In addition, groundwater depletion can exacerbate opment, as well as population and environmental change. Pressures
the migration of pollutants (Aeschbachhertig and Gleeson, 2012). arise when drivers occur in a system. The state of a system or environ-
The sustainability of groundwater resources depends on complex ment is then changed, which causes an impact to services provided. In
feedback loops between human and natural systems (Hou et al., response, policies will be established and actions taken to help mitiga-
2012). In a positive feedback loop, additional groundwater depletion tion or adaption to the changed system (Pandey et al., 2010; Righi,
and deterioration will affect human development, consequently there 1999).
is less resources devoted to groundwater protection, which worsens In this study, DPSIR indicators reveal not only the situation of
the situation and leads to more groundwater deterioration. In a negative groundwater sustainability in China, but also the interaction between
feedback loop, when additional groundwater depletion and deteriora- groundwater and human-nature systems. The indicator system is di-
tion occurs, groundwater quality and quantity will be monitored, vided into the five DPSIR categories, which we further divided into 14
water-saving technologies for agriculture and industry will be subcategories (Table 1). The framework presented is established mainly
 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562 553

Table 1
Indicators in groundwater sustainability assessment system.

Category Subcategory Indicator Analysis1 Other GSA studies also using the indicator

Population density Quan (Bagordo et al., 2016)

GDP per capita Quan (Jiang et al., 2015)
Modernization
Rate of urbanization Quan (Hazarika and Nitivattananon, 2016; Pandey et al., 2010)
Percentage of impervious area Quan (Pandey et al., 2010)
Grain production per capita Quan (Borji et al., 2018)
Food Production Vegetable production per capita Quan (Borji et al., 2018)
Drivers
Meat production per capita Quan (Bagordo et al., 2016)
Fossil fuel production Quan
Energy Supply The portion of thermal power generation Quan
Biofuel Quan
Precipitation Quan (Borji et al., 2018)
Environmental Condition Change
Surface water quality Quan
Total water consumption Quan (Borji et al., 2018)
Groundwater extraction per unit area Quan (Vrba et al., 2007)
Pressure to Groundwater Quantity
Rate of groundwater exploitation Quan (Jiang et al., 2015)
Pressures Water consumption per GDP Quan
The amount of wastewater Quan (Borji et al., 2018)
Pressure to Groundwater Quality The amount of fertilizer and pesticide usage Quan
Poor water quality of anthropogenic origin Semi
Groundwater resources per area Quan (Jiang et al., 2015)
Groundwater Quantity
Groundwater level Quan (Pandey et al., 2010)
State
Groundwater quality Quan (Vrba et al., 2007)
Groundwater Quality
Contamination of nitrogen Semi (Bagordo et al., 2016; Mattas et al., 2014)
Land subsidence Semi (Pandey et al., 2010)
Geo-hazards
Seawater intrusion Semi
Drinking water safety Quan (Pandey et al., 2010)
Human Health Risk Food safety caused by polluted irrigation water Quan
Impact
Vapor intrusion Quan
Industry production Quan
Impact to Production System Food production Quan
Energy production Quan
Regulation of groundwater resources Semi (Pandey et al., 2011)
Management Enforcement Quan
Capacity building Quan (Pandey et al., 2011)
Groundwater monitoring Quan (Pandey et al., 2010)
Responses
Wastewater treatment Quan (Bagordo et al., 2016)
Operation Rate of water-saving irrigation Quan
Water intervention Quan (Hazarika and Nitivattananon, 2016)
Prevention and control of groundwater pollution Quan
1
: Quan = Quantitative; Semi = Semi-quantitative.

on the existing theory on the interactions between groundwater and of land area reducing the recharge of groundwater (Howard, 2015).
coupled human-nature systems, as well as previous research on GSA. Consequently, indicators for rate of urbanization and percentage of im-
pervious area were incorporated as two drivers.
2.1.1. Drivers Food production involves three indicators: grain production per
The unprecedented modernization characterized by population ex- capita, vegetable production per capita and meat production per capita.
plosion, urbanization and economic development is the main contribu- China, with 7% of the world's arable land, provides food for 22% of the
tor to environmental pollution and resource depletion (Hazarika and global population (CSY, 2017). In northern China, especially the North
Nitivattananon, 2016). To meet the demand of modernization, intensive China Plain, intensive agriculture practices are performed. The majority
energy production and food production is often carried out. Recently, of irrigation water there is supplied by groundwater since surface water
researchers have focused on the close relationships in the energy- sources are scarce (Changming et al., 2001). Increasing livelihoods in
water-food security nexus (Bazilian et al., 2011; Endo et al., 2015). China now requires the agriculture sector to not only provide enough
Apart from anthropic drivers, changing natural factors are also a driver grain, but also nutritious and higher valued foods (Huang, 2010;
for groundwater unsustainability (Scanlon et al., 2012; Trenberth, Wang and Qi, 2013), thus requiring greater irrigation water consump-
2011). To address these, the Drivers are divided into the four subcate- tion, fertilizer/pesticides use, and increased livestock excrement (Gu
gories of modernization, food production, energy supply and environ- et al., 2013; Shi et al., 2009; Siebert et al., 2010), which exert pressure
mental condition change. on both quantity and quality of groundwater.
Modernization comprises of four specific indicators: population den- Energy supply includes three indicators: fossil fuel production, the
sity, GDP per capita, rate of urbanization and percentage of impervious proportion of thermal power generation, and the proportion of biofuel.
area. Population explosion, described by population density, not only Fossil fuel production has a significant impact on groundwater, due to
means the increasing number of people but also the demands of this ris- instances such as petroleum hydrocarbon leakage in the process of ex-
ing population, food, energy, water, space and so on, which exert pres- ploitation and transport (Lesage et al., 1997). Coal mining is also identi-
sures to groundwater system (Jago-On et al., 2009). China has fied as a threat to aquifers, due to the lowering of groundwater levels by
experienced unprecedented economic development, which brings dewatering for coal excavation (Wang et al., 2010). Therefore, the
pressure to both groundwater quality and quantity, due to its exploita- amount of petroleum and coal production is included to indicate the in-
tion for agriculture and industry (Jackson, 2006). Thus, GDP per capita fluence of primary energy production on groundwater resources. As for
was selected. High population density and improved lifestyle in urban secondary energy, the portion of thermal power generation was se-
areas has increased domestic water consumption, and land use change lected due to its massive coal and water demands (Wei et al., 2014). Bio-
and new infrastructure has reduced the permeability of large amounts fuel, a kind of clean energy, was also selected as an indicator. This is
554 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562

because considerable water amounts are required to grow the crops 2.1.4. Impact
used for biofuels, as well the use of fertilizer and pesticides The supply of groundwater resources to other system can be divided
(Dominguezfaus et al., 2009). into three categories, (i) supplying water to human systems, (ii) supply-
Environmental condition change incorporates two indicators: sur- ing water to ecosystems and (iii) supporting land structures (Zhang
face water quality and precipitation. With the degradation of surface et al., 2008). Therefore, the depletion or deterioration of groundwater
water quality and quantity, groundwater is increasingly relied upon, hinders the provision of groundwater services to these systems.
which exert stress to groundwater resources (Wang and Jiao, 2012). Hence, the impact category includes three subcategories: geo-hazard,
Furthermore, pollutants in contaminated surface waters can transfer human health risk and impact to production systems.
to groundwater. The amount of precipitation will strongly influence Groundwater overexploitation can bring about severe geo-hazards,
the distribution of shallow groundwater resources (Scanlon et al., such as land subsidence, earth fissures and sea water intrusion (Shi
2012). Thus, surface water quality and precipitation are selected as and Jiao, 2014; Ye et al., 2015). Land subsidence now seriously influ-
two natural driving forces. ences the sustainability of regional economy and society by damaging
infrastructure (Jia et al., 2017). Seawater intrusion caused by overex-
ploitation of groundwater will bring about soil and groundwater salini-
2.1.2. Pressures zation, thus resulting in economic and social loss (Shi and Jiao, 2014).
The pressures generated by drivers affect groundwater system in Human health risk includes drinking water safety, food safety and
two ways: (1) decreasing groundwater quantity; (2) deteriorating vapor intrusion. N400 major cities in China use groundwater as their
groundwater quality (Jago-On et al., 2009). Accordingly, pressures are drinking water source (MEP, 2011). Thus, as groundwater quality
divided to two subcategories: pressures to groundwater quantity and worsens, exposure to greater health risk will increase. Moreover,
pressures to groundwater quality. when irrigation water comes from contaminated groundwater, pollut-
Pressures to groundwater quantity includes 4 indicators: total water ants, such as arsenic or cadmium can be taken up by crops for consump-
consumption, groundwater extraction per unit area, rate of groundwa- tion by human (Bhattacharya et al., 2010; Garnier et al., 2010). Vapor
ter exploitation and water consumption per GDP (Chen et al., 2015; intrusion by volatile pollutants in groundwater is also included because
Gao et al., 2007; Liu et al., 2005; Sun et al., 2016). Total groundwater of the severe risk of inhaling harmful pollutants (Gao and Wang, 2011;
consumption indicates the overall consumption level of a province. Little et al., 1992).
Groundwater extraction per unit area indicates the reliance on ground- Impact to production system consists of three indicators: industry
water. Rate of groundwater exploitation, the ratio of groundwater ex- production, food production and energy production. Water is a funda-
traction to groundwater resources reflects the intensity of mental factor in production activities, and due to over-exploitation, im-
groundwater extraction. The former three indicators give a direct un- pacts can arise (Foster et al., 2004)., the indicators in this subcategory
derstanding about the state of groundwater usage, whereas the latter are supposed to scale the impact caused by inadequate water supply.
details water usage efficiency.
Pressures to groundwater quality is endangered by human activity, 2.1.5. Responses
but natural background contamination can also cause harm in certain Responses contains the measures taken by humans to improve
areas (Bagordo et al., 2016; Jago-On et al., 2009). Thus, indicators for groundwater sustainability, of which management is an essential com-
the amount of wastewater, the amount of fertilizer and pesticide ponent. Additionally, to improve both the quality and quantity of
usage and poor water quality of geogenic origin are selected. The groundwater, specific operations are called for. Consequently, manage-
amount of wastewater includes the discharge from industrial produc- ment and operation are subcategories used to assess responses. The es-
tion and domestic activity, which causes pressure to groundwater to tablishment of a separated regulation of groundwater management
mainly in two ways: 1) leakage from contaminated wastewater pipes; indicates groundwater management of a province (Howard, 2015). En-
2) recharge of surface water by contaminated wastewater (Li et al., forcement is also included, because it determines whether an
2015b; McCance et al., 2018; Zeng et al., 2016). Agriculture is a vital established policy is effective. Capacity building is used to evaluate im-
stress producer for groundwater, not only for the size of its water con- proved groundwater management. Five indicators are used for the op-
sumption compared with domestic and industry, but also for the impact eration which are groundwater monitoring, wastewater treatment,
of pesticides and fertilizer usage on groundwater quality (Li et al., the rate of water-saving irrigation and water intervention. Groundwater
2015b; Malaguerra et al., 2012; Shi et al., 2009). For example, serious ni- monitoring reveals the quality and quantity of groundwater (Pandey
trogen pollution in groundwater caused by fertilizer utilization has been et al., 2011). Industrial and domestic wastewater treatments reduce
reported in many provinces in China (Gu et al., 2013). Closely related to pollution levels entering into groundwater. Implementation of water-
geology, geogenically contaminated groundwater is commonly found in saving irrigation will decrease water pumped from groundwater and al-
China (Jia et al., 2018; Ren and Jiao, 1988). Therefore, the poor water leviate groundwater depletion. And water intervention provides assur-
quality of geogenic origin is included. ance that groundwater is not contaminated with arsenic and fluorine
(Tong and Xia, 2018). Prevention and control of groundwater pollution
indicates the efforts made to improve groundwater quality.
2.1.3. State
Under the influence of drivers and pressures, the state of the ground- 2.2. Data sources
water system will change (Jago-On et al., 2009), in both the dimensions
of quantity and quality. Therefore, subcategories of quantity and quality Data used in the model for China was extracted from numerous
are used as indicators of this. The subcategory of groundwater quantity sources. Data on GDP, the rate of urbanization, grain production, total
consists of exploitable groundwater resources and groundwater level water consumption, groundwater consumption was extracted from
(Chen et al., 2015; Pandey et al., 2010), which indicates groundwater the China Statistical Yearbook (2015) (CSY, 2016d). Vegetable produc-
abundance in different provinces. Groundwater quality has a close rela- tion, meet production, the consumption of fertilizer and pesticides, irri-
tionship with human health because it is a source of irrigation water and gation area, water saving irrigation area was extracted from the China
drinking water (Bhattacharya et al., 2010; Wu and Sun, 2015). This indi- Rural Statistical Yearbook (2015) (CSY, 2016c). Energy data such as
cator is based on the Standards of Groundwater Quality in China, being thermal power generation, crude oil production, raw coal production,
defined as the ratio of groundwater better than Class III. Nitrogen con- total power generation was extracted from the China Energy Statistics
tamination is a particular threat to groundwater in China (Gu et al., Yearbook (2015) (CSY, 2016a). Data on population density was ex-
2013), and is also included as an indicator in this subcategory. tracted from the China Population and Employment Statistics Yearbook
 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562 555

(2016) (CSY, 2016b). Relevant data is also made available by the Chi- subcategories for Xi province can be calculated as:
nese government via announcements, plans, reports or bulletins. For ex-  
ample, pertinent data on ‘Enforcement’ was extracted from the ‘Special X  100
Xi ¼ x0ij  ; ð5Þ
Plan for Water Pollution Prevention and Control in Key River Basins’ m
39
(2015), which details how effectively provinces enforce environmental
policies. where m is the number of indicators included in the category.
Data on precipitation and surface water quality was collected from To aid comparison among the DPSIR categories, the scores were nor-
the Environmental Conditions Report and Water Resource Bulletin pub- malized as follows:
lished provincially. The total value of groundwater rescores was gath-
ered from the China Statistical Yearbook (2015) (CSY, 2016d). Data for X
NX ¼ ð6Þ
groundwater levels were extracted from the China Geological Environ- m
ment Monitoring Groundwater Level Yearbook (2014) (CIGEM, 2015).
Groundwater quality data for 16 provinces came from the Groundwater where NX is the normalized score and m is the number of indicators
Monthly Report (2016) (MWR, 2016). For other provinces, we used av- contained within each category.
erage data published in China's Environmental Conditions Report (MEP,
2016). Sea water intrusion is recorded in China's Marine Disaster Bulle- 3. Results and discussion
tin (2015) (SOA, 2016). Datasets for drinking water safety and water in-
tervention were collected from the China Health and Family Planning 3.1. Overall sustainability of groundwater resources in China
Statistics Yearbook (2015) (NHC, 2016). Data for wastewater treatment
was obtained from China Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook The assessment system for groundwater sustainability scored each
(2016) (MOHURD, 2016). The data for groundwater monitoring points of the 31 provinces and municipalities of mainland China, which varied
in each province was collected from the GeoCloud website (http:// from 47.3 to 72.9, with an average score of 59.5 and median of 58.9.
geocloud.cgs.gov.cn/#/portal/home). For poor water quality of geogenic Tibet was the highest scoring province, while the lowest was Tianjin.
origin, nitrogen contamination and land subsidence, we extracted data Moreover, the scores for different categories among the provinces are
on concentration, area affected, and point of pollutant density from pub- shown in Table 2, which were calculated using Eq. (5). To compare
lished articles. The data sources for each indicator are listed in Table S1. the general performance of the five categories, we normalized the
scores as shown in Fig. 1. Pressures' scored the most desirably among
2.3. Weighting, normalizing, and sensitivity analysis the five parts, with a score of 1.9, while ‘Responses’ performed the
worst with score of 1.1. China is a developing country, which may
In this study, indicators were assumed to have the same value, and help explain the unbalanced that has been identified in the drivers
therefore given an equal weighting of 1. For quantitative indicators, and pressures (Zhan and Wang, 2018). The poor performance of some
data was directly inputted. For semi-quantitative indicators, a scoring states are an evidence to groundwater unsustainability in China. In
system of 1 to 5 was used based on literature benchmarking. Data for
different indicators have different units and therefore cannot be com- Table 2
bined in a comprehensive index. Therefore, we used Min-max Normal- Groundwater sustainability in different provinces in China.
ization to weigh data from 0 to 1, with values closer to 1 being more
Province Drivers Pressures State Impact Responses Total Score
desirable. The data processing steps in detail are as follows.
For m provinces whose groundwater sustainability will be measured Tibet 25.4 16.5 6.9 18.8 5.3 72.9
Guizhou 23.8 16.7 7.1 14.3 7.9 69.8
(i = 1,2, …,m). and n evaluated parameters (j = 1,2, …,n), matrix X can Guangxi 23.1 13.5 8.6 11.7 11.1 68
be constructed as: Qinghai 23.2 16.4 7.3 15.2 5.4 67.5
Zhejiang 22.9 13.7 8.2 9.4 11.8 66
2 3
x11 x12 ⋯ x1m Jiangxi 23.6 13.9 7.9 13.4 7.2 65.9
6 x Hunan 22.9 13.1 7.3 11.9 10.1 65.3
⋮ 7
x22
X ¼ 4 21 ⋱ 5 ð1Þ Yunnan 24.5 14.8 6.7 11.1 7.8 64.9
⋮ ⋮
xn1 xn2 ⋯ xnm Sichuan 22.4 14.3 5.5 13.9 8.1 64.3
Gansu 22.6 14.6 5 14 7.2 63.4
Chongqing 20.9 16.3 4.3 14.3 7.2 63
To normalize positive indicators, the function is as follows (Bo et al., Fujian 23.2 12.7 6.8 10.6 9.5 62.8
Xinjiang 19.8 8.6 4.9 14.9 13.3 61.5
2010; Li et al., 2011):
Hubei 21.7 13.3 6.7 12.4 7.4 61.4
Hainan 21.5 14.9 6.8 12.9 5.1 61.2
xij −xmin Shaanxi 19.8 13.8 4.3 11.6 9.4 58.9
x0ij ¼ ð2Þ
xmax −xmin Ningxia 19.4 13.6 2.4 14.3 7.3 57
Guangdong 22.5 8.3 7.2 9.2 9.8 56.9
Shanxi 18.8 13.5 3.4 11.5 9.3 56.5
And for negative indicators, the function is as follows: Shanghai 15 15 6.1 10.9 9.3 56.3
Beijing 17.4 11.3 5 12.2 9.8 55.4
xmax −xij Heilongjiang 17.4 11.8 4.3 11.3 9.8 54.7
x0ij ¼ ð3Þ Anhui 18.6 12.8 4.8 10.7 7.6 54.5
xmax −xmin
Jilin 15.8 13.5 4.9 12.4 6.6 53.2
Liaoning 16.2 12.4 3.2 7.7 13.6 53
Then, the comprehensive index of groundwater sustainability for Shandong 15.7 10 3.8 8.4 14.7 52.7
different provinces can be calculated as: Inner Mongolia 13.9 12.6 3.7 11.7 10.7 52.7
Henan 16.6 9.3 4.8 11.4 10.3 52.4

X   X   Jiangsu 17.8 10.2 5.3 8.9 9.8 52.1

 100 100 Hebei 18.1 10.1 2.8 6.8 14.2 51.9
GSIi ¼ wi x0ij  ¼ x0ij ð4Þ
j
39 j
39 Tianjin 15.2 12.7 2.4 11.2 5.9 47.3
Average 20.0 13.0 5.4 11.9 9.1 59.5
Max 25.4 16.7 8.6 18.8 14.7 72.9
The score of the different DPSIR categories and subcategories can be Min 13.9 8.3 2.4 6.8 5.1 47.3
Standard deviation 3.2 2.2 1.7 2.4 2.5 6.3
calculated as the sum of the indicators. The score of a certain category or
556 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562

state of groundwater in the northern China is generally inferior to that

of southern China (Fig. 2d). The three provinces of Tianjin, Ningxia
and Hebei had the lowest scores, and the scores for Guangxi and
Zhejiang the highest. The coastal areas are severely affected by unsus-
tainable groundwater usage, which can be clearly seen in the lower
scores received in eastern China (Fig. 2e). All provinces' that scored
b10 in the category are coastal. As for responses, the provinces in east-
ern China have more powerful responses generally, with 32% of prov-
inces having a score higher than 10 (Fig. 3e). To better understand the
regional differences, China was divided into south China (SC) and
north China (NC) according to the Qinlin-Huaihe Line (Wang et al.,
1995). Fig. 3 shows the difference between subcategories.
Regional differences, which indicate the heterogeneity (Liu et al.,
2007), among indicators mainly appears as two patterns. Drivers and
state show the differences between northern and southern western,
while pressure, impact and response exhibit the difference between
Fig. 1. Spider graph showing normalized average results for the different DPSIR categories
western and eastern China. The difference may be caused by multiple
(The average scores were normalized using Eq. (6)).
factors of geography, climate, economy. ‘State’ provides an example of
how these factors contribute to regional differences. Precipitation in
particular, the low score for responses appeals for the improvement of southern China is much more abundant than it in the northern China,
effective policy for groundwater sustainability. Meanwhile, there are which means higher recharge rates and thus more abundant groundwa-
advantages due to diversity of geology and climate in other provinces ter supply (Wang et al., 2000). However, due to the intensive agricul-
(Wang et al., 2000). tural and industrial activities and natural conditions, groundwater in
northern China suffers from severe pollution (Gu et al., 2013; Kang
3.2. Geographical differentiation et al., 2017; Wen et al., 2005). N80% of groundwater in Liaoning, Hei-
longjiang, Tianjin and Hebei provinces are of poor or very poor quality
The results garnered reveal stark differences in groundwater sus- (MWR, 2016). Under the compounding impact of these two factors,
tainability between southern and northern China. Most of the southern the state of groundwater in southern China appears to be more
provinces including Guizhou, Guangxi, Zhejiang and Jiangxi performed sustainable.
better in this assessment system than the northern provinces, such as
Hebei, Henan and Inner Mongolia scored poorly (Fig. 2a). However, 3.3. Comparison and correlation of subcategories and indicators
the four southern provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai and Guangzhou
also scored low. For drivers, the differences between northern China At the national level, sustainability of different aspects is unbalanced,
and southern China can be observed. Inner Mongolia had the strongest as seen in the in different subcategories (Fig. 4). For ‘Drivers’, ‘Environ-
driving force to use groundwater in an unsustainable way (Fig. 2b). Fol- mental Condition Change’ and ‘Food Production’ have lower scores in
lowing it, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shandong, Liaoning and Jilin also received this section, which means some provinces scored lower in these two
relatively low scores. Pressures in the North China are also notable, subcategories. Also, the results illustrate that pressures to groundwater
with the strongest pressures in Guangdong and Xinjiang (Fig. 2c). The quality are larger than to groundwater quantity, and groundwater

Total Score Drivers Pressures

47.3

50.0

55.0

60.0

65.0

70.0

13.9

16.6

18.6

20.9

22.4

24.5

8.3

10.2

11.8

13.1

13.9

15.0

State Impact Responces

5.1
5.9

7.4

8.1
10.3

11.8
6.8

10.6

11.3

12.2

13.9

18.8
2.4

3.7

4.8

5.3

6.7

8.0

Fig. 2. Spatial distribution of overall sustainability score and scores for the five DPSIR categories Regional Differences among Categories (The data matrix of this figure is exhibited in Table 2
and was visualized using GIS).
 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562 557

Fig. 3. Differences of Scores between all China, Northern China (NC) and Southern China (SC) among Different Subcategories (The data derived from of Eq. (5), then the score for provinces
in NC, SC and China were averaged).

quality is less sustainable than groundwater quantity, due to the lower large regional gaps. The subcategory of groundwater quality gained
scores for ‘Pressures to Groundwater Quality’ and ‘Groundwater Quality’ lower scores than groundwater quantity.
in these two sections. In addition, the ‘Impact to Production’ get a much Some provinces gained a similar overall score, but different scores
lower score in ‘Impact’ and the score for ‘Operation’ is slightly larger for various aspects. For instance, Ningxia and Guangdong scored 57.0
than ‘Management’ in ‘Responses’. and 56.9, respectively, although the scores varied greatly from different
Environmental Condition Change and Geo-hazards have greater var- subcategories and indicators. ‘Pressures’ in Guangdong scored the low-
iation among provinces. Due to limited data for many provinces, ‘Impact est, but the score for ‘State’ is relatively high. However, in Ningxia, the
to Production System’ had little variation in scores. However, Tibet score for ‘State’ is the lowest in this category and the higher score for
scored very high in this subcategory, due to low industrial impact and ‘Pressure’. Therefore, in this assessment system, the sustainability of
abundant groundwater. It is counterintuitive that modernization, a di- groundwater resources is not judged by a single aspect, but all.
rect factor in causing unsustainable groundwater usage, scored highest The correlation coefficient between subcategories pairs was calcu-
in ‘Divers’. Closer examination reveals that Tianjin, Shanghai and Beijing lated, and a correlation coefficient matrix constructed, illustrating the
score poorly, however, most provinces and municipalities gained rela- size of correlations (Fig. 5). This gives an insight into the complex adap-
tively high scores, showing the uneven pattern of development in tive interaction and relationships among factors in the Human-Nature
China (Wang, 2015). ‘Environmental Condition Change’ and ‘Geo-haz- and groundwater system. ‘Modernization’ has a relatively negative cor-
ards’ are widely distributed, which further proves the existence of relation with ‘Food Production’ and ‘Operation’, while being positively
correlated with ‘Geo-hazards’. Both ‘Groundwater Quantity’ and
‘Groundwater Quality’ have strong significant positive correlation with
‘Environmental Condition Change’. In addition, ‘Modernization’, ‘Pres-
sures to Groundwater Quantity’, ‘Geo-hazards’ and ‘Impact to produc-
tion system’ were negatively correlated with ‘Operation’. The
strongest positive correlation occurs between ‘Groundwater Quantity’
and ‘Environmental Condition Change’, with the Pearson correlation co-
efficient as 0.74, while the strongest negative correlation is exhibited
between ‘Pressure to Groundwater Quantity’ and ‘Operation’ with the
Pearson correlation coefficient as −0.62.
Interactions between components in the groundwater system and
the pertaining human-nature system are manifest (Fig. 5). Therefore,
groundwater and its external environment should be considered as a
complex adaptive system. For instance, it is difficult to understand
why ‘Geo-hazards’ caused by groundwater depletion, has relatively
strong relationship with ‘Pressure to Groundwater Quality’ and
‘Groundwater Quality’, perhaps this is because geo-hazards are more
likely to occur in places of greater development in northern China,
where groundwater is often polluted by production activities (Kang
et al., 2017; Li et al., 2015b; Ye et al., 2015). Seawater intrusion happens
in coastal areas where water is more abundant (Shi and Jiao, 2014), con-
sequently there is a low level of interrelationship between ‘Geo-haz-
ards’ and ‘Groundwater Quantity’. Therefore, geo-hazards as result of
groundwater depletion also showed correlation with poor groundwater
quality.
Fig. 4. Box and whisker plots for different subcategories (The data matrix is derived from The correlations between groundwater quantity and quality subcat-
Eq. (5)). egories are a sign that the groundwater depletion and degradation is
558 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562

Fig. 5. Interrelationships of Different Subcategories (The size of the bubble indicates the Pearson correlation coefficient between two subcategories. The bigger the bubble the stronger the
correlation. Blue represent negative correlation and red represent positive correlation. Mod. = Modernization; FP = Food Production; ES = Energy Supply; ECC = Environmental
Condition Change; PGQn = Pressure to Groundwater Quantity; PGQa = Pressure to Groundwater Quality; GQn = Groundwater Quantity; GQa = Groundwater Quality; GH = Geo-
hazards; HHR = Human Health Risk; IPS = Impact to Production System; Man. = Management; Ope. = Operation). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

coupled in some provinces. In Jiangsu province, groundwater resources Hebei, which scored relatively low in groundwater sustainability, to-
are abundant, but the local overexploitation has caused a geo-hazard. As gether have 17.9% of all groundwater monitoring sites in China, provid-
much as 2.8 m land subsidence has been found in Wuxi city, and over ing a perspective on the inter-adaptation between human and natural
1 m in Suzhou city (Chen et al., 2003; Ye et al., 2015). Moreover, 67.5% system.
of the groundwater in Jiangsu province is worse than the Class III ac-
cording to the Standards of Groundwater Quality in China (MWR, 3.4. Effect of development status
2016). Liaoning province is a coastal province in the northeast of
China, with intensive heavy industrial production. There was just 7.3% The relationship between groundwater sustainability and provincial
of groundwater better than Class III in this area (MWR, 2016). Sea development or production are illustrated in Fig. 6, which reveals an
water intrusion caused by groundwater overexploitation has reached overall negative relationship. For instance, Tianjin with the highest
867.8 km2 in Dalian, further contaminating the groundwater with salin- GDP per capita scored lowest in groundwater sustainability. Similar pat-
ity (Zhang et al., 2014). Therefore, groundwater depletion and deterio- terns occur for industrial added value, thermal power generation and
ration has occurred together and are coupled with each other. grain production. The industrial added value for Guangdong is 3025.9
Additionally, Poor groundwater resource sustainability becomes a billion RMB, which is the highest among provinces, while ranking 18
driver to improve groundwater management. Both ‘Operation’ and in groundwater sustainability. The greatest thermal power generation
‘Management’ having negative relationships with ‘Geo-hazard’ reveals occurs in Shandong province (450.2 billion kW.h), which is ranked 26
adaption to the changes imparted (Hou et al., 2012). Shandong and in groundwater sustainability. As for grain production, 6324 thousand

75 R² = 0.2613 P=0.004 R² = 0.1401 P=0.035

75
70
70
65
65
60
GSI

60
GSI

55
55
50
50
45
45
40 40
2,000 52,000 102,000 152,000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000
GDP per capita, RMB Industrial added value, billion RMB

75 75
R² = 0.2684 P=0.002 R² = 0.1596 P=0.022
70 70
65 65
60 60
GSI

GSI

55 55
50 50
45 45
40 40
0 200 400 600 0 2000 4000 6000 8000
Thermal power generaon, billion kW.h Grain producon,10 thousand tons

Fig. 6. Relationship between Groundwater Sustainability and Development Level.

 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562 559

tons of grain were produced in Heilongjiang, 10.1% of total production in China such as Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, are close to each other, with
China. However, Heilongjiang gained a relatively low score of 54.7, generally similar natural condition and development characteristic.
ranked at 22. Intensive industrial, energy and food production are a To support the rapid development of Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin
basis of prosperity but also a burden for the natural system. To provide have shouldered tremendous pressures. The poor performance of
adequate water for agriculture and industrial production systems, as groundwater sustainability in northern China is a response to inten-
well as sufficient drinking water supplies, groundwater is being sive human activities (Foster et al., 2004). To address this, a more
overexploited in China. In addition, pollutants from various production sustainable development in this region plans in the dimension of
activities have resulted in groundwater contamination (Hou et al., economic and society is required. Moreover, it is not the develop-
2018b; Kang et al., 2017; Xu et al., 2008). ment causing the groundwater unsustainability, but the unsustain-
Interestingly, several provinces/municipalities, such as Beijing and able development style and method, which should also be
Shanghai have high GDP per capita, but low production activities. underscored and improved in the future.
They ranked lower than surrounding provinces, except Jiangsu and More adaptive management and governance of groundwater re-
Hebei which scored worse. Therefore, the developed cities that boost sources should be carried out. Awareness of interactions in complex sys-
their economy through technology or innovation and not production tem may help adaptation to the local situation. Groundwater systems
cost less in natural resources (Cao et al., 2013b). However, the cost of are interrelated with multiple factors in the human-nature system.
prosperity may be paid by other provinces. For instance, Hebei and Groundwater policies should be responsive (Megdal, 2018). For in-
Henan take the responsibility to provide enough food at the cost of en- stance, when groundwater depletion occurs, alternative water sources
vironmental damage. should be utilized instead of allowing overexploitation that causes irre-
A negative correlation between groundwater sustainability and eco- versible damage to nature systems. Continuously changing climate also
nomic development and production intensity is a sign that develop- underscores the importance of adaptive management of groundwater
ment is damaging groundwater resources, therefore, demanding a resources (Megdal, 2018). Droughts and floods are increasingly suffered
more sustainable approach to development. Henan, a major grain- (Long et al., 2014). Thus, it is critical to set up sustainable groundwater
producing province in China, produced 60.671 million tons of grain in management which will be adaptive and resilient to increasingly tough
2015 (CSY, 2016d). With limited surface water resources, irrigation in climatic conditions (Megdal, 2018). In addition, it is vital to link ground-
Henan relied on groundwater exploitation, with over a million irrigation water resource management with food production, energy generation,
wells (Chen and Ma, 2017). However, the rate of water-saving irrigation land use and the environment, according to the interrelationships be-
only reached 20.6%, which reveals the unsustainable nature of food pro- tween them (Bazilian et al., 2011; Megdal, 2018; Ringler et al., 2013).
duction in Henan (CSY, 2016b). When sustainable approaches are se- Local factors should be considered in the management and governance
lected, the conflict between intensive production activities and of groundwater. For example, in southwestern China, a karst area with
groundwater sustainability will be reduced. Furthermore, the negative little soil protection, pollutants can enter the groundwater more directly
correlation is also a profound warning for the less developed provinces and easily (Nguyet and Goldscheider, 2006). Accordingly, appropriate
of China, such as Qinghai, to develop with a more sustainable plan in the measures for preventing groundwater deterioration and sustainable re-
future. mediation in this scenario should be taken (Hou et al., 2012; O'Connor
et al., 2018; Song et al., 2018).
3.5. Policy implications In addition, the indicators assessed in this framework provide a com-
prehensive analysis on groundwater human-nature systems. Long-term
Comparing scores of different subcategories provides us guidance monitoring for the different kinds of indicators of groundwater should
to improve overall sustainability of groundwater. For example, to be set up and modified to help us better explore the complex systems
avoid groundwater resource pollution by increasingly intensive and provide robust support for policy and decision making (Wang
human activities, policies for protecting groundwater need to be et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2019).
established. Zhejiang, with a poor impact score, especially for geo-
hazards, would be advised to take more measures to prevent overex-
ploitation of groundwater to alleviate the threat of land subsidence 3.6. Sensitivity analysis
and sea water intrusion (Li et al., 2015a; SOA, 2015). For the most
of arid and semi-arid areas in China, such as Hebei, effective re- The component weighting is a critical factor of the model on the final
sponses have occurred for the terrible groundwater situation and results. In this study, we gave the same weighting to each indicator. In
coupled unsustainable impacts, which should be implemented con- the model presented, the weighting of each indicator was equal, so
tinuously. However, provinces such as Tianjin, with weak responses, that the weighting of each category varied by the number of indicators
should take more measures to support groundwater sustainable applied (WS1). For the sensitivity analysis, a weighting scheme that ap-
management. plied equal weighting to each category is conducted, so that the weight
The coupled depletion and deterioration of groundwater is calling of each indicator varied (WS2). The sensitivity of overall results to the
the management of groundwater quantity and quality to be promoted different weightings are shown in Fig. 7.
simultaneously. Apart from anthropic and natural impact, the ground- By using WS2, the weighting for ‘Drivers’ decreased from 2.56 to
water level falling appeared to be a driver to groundwater degradation, 1.67, weighting for ‘Pressures’ increased 2.86, weighting for ‘State’ in-
through seawater intrusion in coastal area and the leakage recharge of creased to 5.00, and weighting for ‘Impact’ and ‘Responses’ is 2.50. The
saline water in inland area (Liu et al., 2009; Shi and Jiao, 2014). Ground- total GSI of China reduced slightly from 59.5 to 58.6. The scores for
water unsustainability in China appeared to be a coupling issue in both ‘Drivers’ and ‘State’ changed the most, reducing from 20.0 to 13.0 and
dimension of quantity and quality. Consequently, the management of increasing from 5.4 to 10.6, respectively. The GSIs for each province
groundwater in quantity and quality can be considered and implement also varied. The GSI for provinces such as Tibet, Guizhou, Sichuan,
together. Moreover, measures such as the limit of groundwater overex- Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Hebei and Tianjin increased, while for prov-
ploitation in coastal area may simultaneously prevent groundwater inces such as Shanghai, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Qinghai and Hainan it de-
from depletion and degradation. creased. GSI in Ningxia increased most (by 3.4) while in Shanghai it
Regional groundwater sustainability should be understored. The decreased the most (by 1.8). The rank of Liaoning rose most, from 29
geographical distribution of scores for groundwater sustainability to 25, and the rank for Shanghai dropped the most, from 16 to 21. The
reveals not only the geographical differences but also the regional changes in GSI were mainly due to the weighting change of ‘Drivers’
homogeneity. For instance, the provinces included in the North and ‘State’ categories.
560 X. Jia et al. / Science of the Total Environment 672 (2019) 551–562

Fig. 7. Sensitivity analysis for weighting scheme. (WS1: previous weighting scheme (same weighing for each indicator), WS2: same weighting for each category, (a) scores for different
categories and data matrix derived from Eq. (5), (b) GSI for different provinces and data matrix derived from Eq. (4)).

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