Quantitative evaluation of the groundwater environment: A case study in Tongliao, China

Abstract

How to quantitatively evaluate the groundwater environment is an important question. In this paper, the groundwater environment was defined by considering both groundwater quantity and quality, and taking human activities into consideration. Two multiobjective comprehensive evaluation methods were applied to quantitatively evaluate the groundwater environment. Factors influencing the groundwater environment were selected as evaluation indices, which may offer a new approach to studying their influence. Tongliao, where the problems of the groundwater environment are serious, was taken as the study example. According to the results, more than 50% of zones of the groundwater environment in 2010, 2015, and 2018 were Grade II, and the status of most zones remained stable from 2010 to 2018. This study aids in the understanding of the groundwater environment. Numerically evaluated results make assessment of the groundwater environment simple and intuitive. Selected evaluation indices should fully reflect the characteristics of the groundwater environment as comprehensively as possible. The weights should be determined based on subjective and objective methods to eliminate the influence of variability. Additionally, the division of administrative areas should be taken into account. Finally, the influence of human activities can be reflected according to indices that are sensitive to human activities and their variability.

Keywords:

• groundwater environment
• quantitative evaluation
• multiobjective comprehensive evaluation method
• weight
• human activities

Acknowledgments

Thanks for the International Symposium on Soil and Water Resources and Ecology in the Loess Plateau. The contributions of the editor and anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions significantly improved this article are also appreciated.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by the Basic Scientific Research Fund Project of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (Study on quantitative evaluation of the groundwater environment and relationship between groundwater quantity and quality) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41402224).