Identifying Potential Sites for Artificial Recharge in the Plain Area of the Daqing River Catchment Using GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Analysis

Abstract

As an essential component for the development of the Xiong’an New Area, China’s second capital, groundwater in the area has been overexploited, resulting in ecological and environmental geological problems. Therefore, artificial groundwater replenishment measures are urgently required, for which the evaluation of the recharge potential is an important prerequisite. In this study, a GIS (Geographic Information System)-based multi-criteria evaluation system was constructed, considering the source water conditions, recharge infiltration conditions, aquifer storage conditions, and environmental conditions. In addition, factors such as the distance to a canal, source water quality, slope, vadose zone infiltration rate, drainage density, groundwater depth, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, aquifer thickness, groundwater quality, soil quality, and distance to sensitive areas were also analyzed. GIS was used to draw and calculate potential artificial recharge sites. The results showed that the potential recharge sites in the study area are mainly distributed in the alluvial plains on both sides of the river, with a total area of 2103.9 km2, accounting for 15.8% of the total study area. In the Xiong’an New Area, the potential sites are mainly distributed in the alluvial–proluvial plains on both sides of the Baigou River in the north-central area, with a total area of 39.4 km2, accounting for approximately 2.2% of the total area of the Xiong’an New Area.