Ground water monitoring, Handan, China

Challenge

Agriculture in the semi-arid lowlands of northern China is strongly dependent on ground water, and the combined effects of climate change and intense use have depleted the ground water storage and are threatening a sustainable usage. The ground water extraction due to agriculture excels the natural extraction for decades. Therefore, the groundwater level dropped significantly and a sustainable use is endangered.

In the interest of food security, a sustainable water management system has been implemented, designed to keep the water balance stable in the long-term. The project is being financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and implemented by the ETH Zurich and China’s Ministry of Water Resources. Geopraevent is the partner for Big Data and software development.

Solution

An extensive monitoring system was put in place to ensure the long-term stability of the water table. The system records height of the water table, pumping and discharge at around 100 stations. Geopraevent collects the data from all stations over a variety of channels: Through SMS, Email, TCP/IP or manual data entry. The data are then processed and visualized in an interactive data portal online.

The farmers are required to pay for the water they use. In case of exceeding the individual water rights, the price per cubic meter increases. This economic approach ensures that the farmers do not overuse the ground water resources in the future. The project was initiated in 2014 and will run through 2018.