Exploitation of groundwater and environmental issues

The exploitation and utilization of groundwater has been carried out on a large scale in the northern part of China. The disasters of drought, waterlogging and soil salinity have been controlled effectively, thus ensuring the sustainable development of agriculture, and the domestic and industrial water supply in most cities in the region. This has made great contributions to the development of national economy and society. However, in the regions where groundwater overdraft occurred the following water environmental issues: have appeared continuous drawdown of groundwater table, ground subsidence, sea (saline) waters intrusion and pollution of groundwater. In the canal irrigation districts where groundwater has been rarely utilized, exists the problem of secondary salinization of soil.