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Arid Land Geography ›› 2021, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (3): 670-680.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.03.09

• Ecology and Environment of Tarim River Basin • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Groundwater recharge during ecological water conveyance in the lower reaches of Tarim River

WANG Wanrui1,2(),Aikeremu Abula3,CHEN Yaning1(),ZHU Chenggang1,CHEN Yapeng1   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumgi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3. Xinjiang Tarim River Basin Authority, Korla 841000, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2021-02-07 Revised:2021-03-25 Online:2021-05-25 Published:2021-06-01
  • Contact: Yaning CHEN E-mail:wangwanrui18@mails.ucas.ac.cn;chenyn@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

Groundwater is very important for the maintenance of desert ecosystems in arid areas. A water conveyance project was initiated in 2000 to curb the severe ecological deterioration of the lower reaches of Tarim River, Xinjiang, China, which has extensively affected groundwater recharge and discharge processes in the region. Groundwater recharge by water diversion and its influence range are key factors to consider when evaluating the ecological effects of water conveyance. Knowledge of the effects of these factors is crucial to obtain a deeper understanding of the characteristics of the groundwater cycle. The characteristics of groundwater recharge during water conveyance in the lower reaches of Tarim River are incompletely understood. This paper used groundwater monitoring data to examine the spatiotemporal variations of groundwater depth following ecological water conveyance to the lower reaches of Tarim River from 2000 to 2020. The groundwater recharge resulting from water conveyance and the maximum influence range of the latter for the former were evaluated by fitting the data to a groundwater table line equation before and after water conveyance, and the water balance for conveyance in the last 20 years was calculated. Results showed that (1) the groundwater level clearly increases in a spatiotemporal-dependent manner following ecological water conveyance to the study area. The groundwater level at the Yingsu, Kaerday, and Alagan sections of the river increased by 3.01 m, 2.87 m, and 5.75 m, respectively, from 2000 to 2020. The effect of water conveyance on groundwater level variations over the first 10 years was significantly less than that over the last 10 years because of differences in water transfer quantity and soil moisture content. (2) The groundwater recharge volume in the lower reaches of Tarim River over the last 21 years due to water conveyance was 30.6×108 m3 (36.2% of the total water conveyance), and the amounts of recharge into the aeration zone and Taitema Lake were 40.1×108 m3 (47.5%) and 11.7×108 m3 (13.8%), respectively. (3) The groundwater recharge volume from water conveyance in the first 10 years (61.6% of the total water conveyance) was greater than that in the last 10 years (25.2% of the total water conveyance), because increased water conveyance decreased the difference in soil moisture saturation between time periods. (4) The maximum influence range of groundwater during water conveyance showed remarkable fluctuations and was positively correlated with the water conveyance amount and groundwater depth pre-conveyance. In the last 10 years covered by this study, the maximum groundwater influence ranges on one side of the river channel during water conveyance to the Yingsu, Kaerdayi, Alagan, and Yiganbujima sections of the river were 1075 m, 2326 m, 1623 m, and 856 m, respectively. The results could contribute to the development of more effective water diversion projects in the future.

Key words: groundwater level, groundwater recharge, ecological water conveyance, the lower reaches of the Tarim River