Soil water dynamics and deep percolation in an agricultural experimental area of the North China Plain over the past 50 years: Based on field monitoring and numerical modeling

Yanyan Wang; Yujiang He; Zhiping Li; Jihong Qu; Guiling Wang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172367

Soil water dynamics and deep percolation in an agricultural experimental area of the North China Plain over the past 50 years: Based on field monitoring and numerical modeling

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jun 10:928:172367. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172367. Epub 2024 Apr 12.

Authors

Yanyan Wang¹, Yujiang He², Zhiping Li³, Jihong Qu³, Guiling Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Geosciences and Engineering, North China University of Water Resource and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China; The Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Science, Shijiazhuang 050061, China.
² The Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Science, Shijiazhuang 050061, China. Electronic address: heyujiang86@163.com.
³ College of Geosciences and Engineering, North China University of Water Resource and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China.
⁴ The Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Science, Shijiazhuang 050061, China. Electronic address: ihegwh@163.com.

PMID: 38614355
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172367

Abstract

The unregulated irrigation systems used in the late 20th century have led to increasingly severe deep percolation (DP) in the agricultural irrigation areas of the North China Plain. This has become an important factor limiting the efficient utilization of water resources and sustainable environmental development in these irrigation areas. However, the thick vadose zone is hydrodynamically exceptionally complex. The soil hydrological cycle is constantly changing under the influence of major climate change and human activity, thereby causing changes in DP that are difficult to quantify accurately. Here, the Luancheng Agricultural Irrigation District in North China was selected for a continuous 20-year in situ experiment. Soil-water dynamics were monitored using neutron probes and tensiometers, to determine the complete annual soil-water cycle and the hydrodynamic properties of the thick vadose zone irrigation district. For 1971-2021, DP was simulated using the HYDRUS-1D model and was verified by fitting observed values. Soil water content (SWC) exhibited similar trends in years that differed in terms of the amounts of irrigation and precipitation. The 0-100 cm soil layer was significantly affected by precipitation and other factors, and recharge >60 mm/d caused percolation. DP occurred mostly after irrigation or during the period of intensive precipitation in July-October. The maximum percolation rate was 16.9 mm/d under the present irrigation method. The main factors leading to DP were soil water storage capacity (R² = 0.86) and precipitation (R² = 0.54). Under the evolution of irrigation measures in the last 50 years, the average DP has gradually decreased from 574.2 mm (1971-1990) to 435.5 mm (2005-2021). However, a substantial amount of precipitation and irrigation water infiltrated the soil and percolated into the deep soil layer without being utilized by the crop. Therefore, there is an urgent need to consider measures to reduce DP to improve water-use efficiency in agriculture.

Keywords: Deep percolation; Irrigation systems; Numerical modeling; Soil water dynamics; Thick vadose zone.