Improved Understanding of Groundwater Storage Changes under the Influence of River Basin Governance in Northwestern China Using GRACE Data

Groundwater is crucial for economic development in arid and semiarid areas. The Shiyang River Basin (SRB) has the most prominent water use issues northwestern China, overexploited groundwater resources have led to continuous groundwater-level decline. key governance planning project of SRB was issued 2007. This paper synthetically combines remote-sensing data from Gravity Recovery Climate Experiment (GRACE) precipitation, actual evapotranspiration, land use, situ evaluate storage variations on a regional scale. Terrestrial anomalies (TWSA) (GWSA), addition their influencing factors since implementation project, are analyzed order effect governance. results show that GRACE-derived GWS consistent with observation basin, correlation coefficient 0.68. had slow downward trend 2003 2016, this increased by 0.38 billion m³/year after 2018. As meteorological did not change significantly, changes mainly caused human activities, which estimated using principle balance. decline middle lower reaches been curbed 2009 gradually rebounded 2014. decreased 2.2 mm EWH (equivalent height) 2011 91% than 2007 2010. cropland area also stopped increasing 2014, while natural vegetation increased, indicating level associated ecology significantly recovered project.