The North China Plain covers an area of 300,000 square kilometers, is the second largest plain in China, the North China Plain has nurtured a large number of people since ancient times, is one of the most important agricultural areas in China, has made important contributions to our country, and has played a pivotal role for a long time, and is also the most developed area in our country at present.
High-altitude shot of the North China Plain.
Such an important area is now plagued by many problems, such as population congestion, land pollution, water pollution, and serious water shortages. In particular, water scarcity has led to over-extraction of groundwater, resulting in the creation of the world's largest underground funnel area, covering an area of about tens of thousands of square kilometers.
What is a groundwater funnel? The simple understanding is that the underground aquifer has always maintained a stable state, if human beings make unreasonable use of groundwater resources, especially breaking the boundaries and overexploiting groundwater, it will lead to the rate of water use being greater than the rate of recharge, and eventually the formation of underground goafs, the formation of a funnel-shaped shape, and if the unreasonable use of water continues, the funnel-shaped will continue to grow. The following two graphs reflect this phenomenon more intuitively.
1. Reasons for the formation of groundwater funnels in North China.
Due to the large population of the North China Plain, which is also the main agricultural and industrial area in China, it consumes a large amount of water. About 25 percent of the country's more than 1.3 billion people consume food from here, so farming uses up a lot of fresh water. We know that agriculture accounts for 60 percent of all water used, and most of it is wasted. Historically, the North China Plain was dominated by dry land, and irrigation water mainly came from rivers. Today, more than 2 million wells are scattered in the fields every year, frantically weathering the annual drought. And because of the large amount of water consumption, the groundwater is overexploited, and the shallowest groundwater level used to be a few meters, but now the well is drilled to a depth of 800 meters, which is to develop the economy at the expense of overdrawing water resources. In this case, the groundwater level will only get lower and lower, and due to the different regional developments, groundwater funnels will be formed. The area of Baiyangdian Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the North China Plain, has shrunk from more than 1,000 square kilometers in history to 561 square kilometers in the 50s to 366 square kilometers at present. If the current level of development is followed, in the near future, Baiyangdian Lake will disappear into the long river of history like Lop Nur. According to official data, 120 billion cubic meters of groundwater has been overexploited in the North China Plain, equivalent to the amount of water in 200 Baiyangdian lakes. In fact, the real situation may be much more serious.
2. The consequences of the emergence of groundwater funnels.
As soon as the groundwater funnel appeared, a series of problems followed: uneven groundwater subsidence, causing a large number of cracks in the ground and houses, and destroying farmland and villages; The groundwater level has fallen, people have increased exploitation, forming a vicious circle, and the development of industry and agriculture has also encountered greater problems; Groundwater is mined, a large amount of wastewater and sewage is poured into the filling, and the quality of groundwater is polluted. And there are reports that some companies are pouring wastewater directly into the ground hundreds of meters underground. At the same time, the North China Plain is close to the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, and the drop in the groundwater level will lead to the backflow of seawater, making it more difficult to find a solution to the groundwater.
3. Measures to deal with groundwater funnels.
This situation is a slow invisible process, so the response can only be taken slowly. First of all, legal measures should be taken, a sound improvement strategy should be formulated, and the functional departments should strengthen supervision to ensure that the red-headed documents are implemented. Second, conserve water. Encourage the implementation of drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation technology for agricultural water, plant crops scientifically and rationally, restore the supply of upstream river water as much as possible, properly cooperate with various departments, and increase public education. Finally, the implementation of cross-basin water transfer, such as the current South-to-North Water Diversion Project, can also solve the problem of water shortage to a certain extent.
Groundwater funnels are now common all over the world, but we are more dangerous here, and we hope that each of us will save water, raise environmental awareness, and contribute our modest efforts to make our homes better and better!