Unprecedented large-scale aquifer recovery through human intervention.

ABSTRACT: Groundwater depletion is a critical global challenge, particularly in intensively cultivated drylands, with few documented cases of successful recovery. Here, we report a striking reversal of long-term groundwater decline in the North China Plain, one of the world's most severely depleted aquifers. Based on a comprehensive analysis of groundwater levels from over 2000 monitoring wells spanning the past two decades, we show that groundwater levels have risen at an average rate of ~0.7 m year^-1 since 2020, surpassing 2005 levels by 2024. This recovery is driven by a combination of large-scale surface water diversion from the humid south and stringent groundwater pumping regulations, further amplified by wet years (e.g., 2021). From 2005 to 2023, these policies reduced a

SUBMITTER: Long D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12332087 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature