Social-Hydrological Dynamics along the Yellow River Belt: A Temporal-Spatial Investigation of Regional Groundwater Use in a Source-to-Sink Manner

As a key industrial production base in China, Yellow River Belt regions are faced with immense pressure on their groundwater resources. Revealing the socio-hydrological dynamics of groundwater resources in the context of regional economic integration is essential for formulating sustainable water use. As an important aspect to reflect the socio-hydrological dynamics of regions along the Yellow River Belt, this study adopted a source-to-sink manner to quantitatively track regional groundwater use and the virtual groundwater transfer via domestic supply chains. The results indicated that the Yellow River Belt regions accounted for nearly a quarter of the national total groundwater use embedded in intraregional trades within China. It was found that regions along the Yellow River Belt primarily exported groundwater use to the Yangtze River Delta and South coastal region, with significant contributions coming from sectors such as chemical & mineral manufacturing, food & tobacco and agriculture. Water-deficient regions such as Inner Mongolia and Henan were revealed to supply substantial amounts of virtual groundwater use to other regions along the Yellow River Belt, exacerbating groundwater pressure in these areas that were scarce of water resources. These findings underline the importance of establishing intraregional and interregional cooperation mechanisms in coordinating water resources and economic development within the regions along the Yellow River Belt.