Land Use and Water Resources Management under Changing Environmental

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Gunnar Lischeid
• Subject Area: Soil Sciences
• Term: from 2010 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 162145355

Intensive agricultural production in the Hai River catchment had detrimental impacts on the quantity and quality of ground and surface water. High cropping intensity, irrigation and fertilizer applications of more than 300 kg N/ha resulted in a decrease of the ground water table by more than 30 m within the last decades and severe deterioration of water quality in the Piedmont Plain Region, a part of the Hai River catchment. The shortage of water resources in the Hai River basin not only hinders the development of the local economy, but also results in severe environmental problems such as:- subsidence of the ground surface due to over-exploitation of groundwater, - degradation of ecosystems, - shrinking of rivers and lakes, - non point source pollution of soil and ground water - serious water pollution in the main channels and tributaries. Sustainable land use in that region requires a sound knowledge of the effects of single management measures. However, subsoil heterogeneity is one of the major obstacles, impeding relating cause and effect at larger scales and to assess the effect of single management strategies. In this study, a three-step up-scaling approach is suggested that combines some innovative methodologies, and enables to grasp the heterogeneities usually encountered at the management scale. First, a recently developed robust methodology will be applied to determine deep percolation and groundwater recharge in situ without requiring a fully-fledged soil hydrological model. The results can be compared to seepage data from lysimeters of the Luancheng station. Moreover, spatial heterogeneities and temporal patterns can be determined and can be related to soil hydrological properties. Second, spatial functional hydrological heterogeneity can be assessed based on principal component analysis of time series of soil water content and groundwater recharge, allowing to up-scale detailed measurements from single field sites. Third, processes affecting groundwater quality, and exchange between groundwater and surface water can be investigated using non-linear PCA of soil water, groundwater, and stream water quality data, combined with stable isotope data. The outcome of the project is expected to provide valuable contributions to scale-specific simulation of water and solute fluxes at the management scale.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: China
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Chunsheng Hu