The influence of ecological restoration projects on groundwater in Yongding River Basin in Beijing, China

Abstract

Abstract This study was conducted to investigate the groundwater quality features of the Yongding River in Beijing, China, and its relationship with urban development and ecological restoration projects. The Yongding River has been cut off all year around and the ecological environment has continued to deteriorate. Therefore, a series of river ecological restoration projects of ‘Five Lakes on One Route’ have been implemented. In order to characterize the physico-chemical properties of groundwater and evaluate the effects of these projects on groundwater quality, by using principal component analysis, this study analyzed spatial and temporal variation on the basis of 11 water quality parameters at 10 monitoring sites of ‘Five Lakes on One Route’ for Yongding River during April and September of 2011 and 2016. Principal component analysis demonstrated that relatively poor groundwater is mainly distributed in Fengtai District residential and industrial land, and the groundwater in Mentougou District woods is generally better. The groundwater quality at eight monitoring sites kept the same level or became better, and the construction of the river ecological restoration projects of ‘Five Lakes on One Route’ is important for protecting the groundwater resource.