Thanks to water diverted from the Yangtze River in China's south, the average groundwater level in the plain area of Beijing reached 23.32 meters in May, rising 3.16 meters over four years. The huge amount of water traveling the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has also rejuvenated mountain springs in Changping, Yanqing, Huairou, and other districts.
As of June 5, the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project had delivered a total of 4.7 billion cubic meters of water to Beijing. Among which, 3.2 billion cubic meters was supplied to water plants, 1.14 billion cubic meters was stored in reservoirs and underground water sources, and 390 million cubic meters was used to replenish rivers and lakes.
According to a person in charge at the Beijing Municipal Water Bureau, the new groundwater data was collected from 885 groundwater monitoring locations at the end of May. In addition to the general rise of groundwater level, the storage volume had increased by 1.62 billion cubic meters. Over the past four years, 14 districts of Beijing saw rises in their groundwater level, as well as that of 4,957.3 square kilometers of the city's plain area, accounting for 78% of all areas of the Chinese capital. Data also shows that the groundwater level in Pinggu district has increased the most, up by 9.23 meters. Mentougou district came in second with 8.5 meters rise in groundwater level. Rises in other districts ranged from 30 centimeters to 5.88 meters.
The rise of groundwater level is closely related to the continuous replenishment of groundwater in recent years. Six rivers in Beijing function as the major sources of replenishment for the city's groundwater—Chaobai River, Yanqi River, Beiwushashikeng, Yongding River, Ruhe River, and Xunhe River. Water from the Yangtze River is diverted through those rivers, and then replenished into groundwater. These measures have effectively promoted the restoration of water sources in groundwater overdraft areas, such as water sources of Miyun, Huairou and Shunyi districts, and Yongding River Basin. With the continuous rise of the groundwater level, mountain springs have reappeared in Lianshanshi village of Changping district, Aiguanying village in Yanqing district, and Baiquan Mountain in Huairou district.
