Combining river replenishment and restrictions on groundwater pumping to achieve groundwater balance in the Juma River Plain, North China Plain

In recent years, to alleviate the decline in groundwater levels, extensive restrictions on groundwater pumping have been implemented in the North China Plain (NCP). In September 2018, a large-scale ecological water replenishment project was executed involving 22 rivers and lakes. How to adjust the layout of reduction on groundwater pumping within the context of ecological water replenishment is a key issue to be addressed in the study of groundwater level recovery in the NCP. This study adopted the Juma River Plain in Baoding city as a case study, established a numerical model of river replenishment of groundwater, predicted groundwater level changes over the next 15 years (2021–2035) and quantitatively calculated the impact of river replenishment on groundwater levels. To achieve the goal of an overall groundwater balance by 2035, a suitable groundwater pumping restriction scenario was defined based on the impact of river replenishment on groundwater levels. The results indicated that by 2035, the relative rise in groundwater levels attributed to river replenishment and restrictions on groundwater pumping could reach 3.51 and 2.28 m, respectively. River replenishment significantly impacts groundwater levels, especially those near the river. Under the current groundwater exploitation conditions, river replenishment could ensure groundwater level recovery near the river, which accounts for 15% of the total study area. The goal of an overall groundwater balance by 2035 could be achieved if restrictions on groundwater pumping were superimposed, with an average annual reduction of 56 million m3. This study provides valuable insights into groundwater management across the NCP. The proposed methods are useful for the management of other depleted aquifers recharged via ecological water replenishment

Anthropogenic Influences on the Hydrochemical Characteristics of the Groundwater in Xiamen City, China and Their Evolution

This study analyzed the anthropogenic influences on the hydrochemical composition characteristics of the groundwater in Xiamen City, Fujian province, China, and their evolution. Based on the hydrochemical data of the groundwater of 1993 and 2019–2021, this study identified the indices of the anthropogenic influences using mathematical and statistical analysis methods, such as contrast coefficient, standard deviation, and Mahalanobis distance. The analytical results are summarized as follows: (1) the number of the indices affecting the groundwater quality in Xiamen increased from nine in 1993 to 15 in 2019, and the six increased indicators included NO3−, Pb, NH4+, Al3+, NO2− and Cu (the contribution rates to poor-quality were 26.0%, 16.3%, 10.6%, 4.1%, 0.8% and 0.8%, respectively) which were related to the input of human activities. During this period, the number of hydrochemical types increased from 19 in 1993 to 28 in 2019, with a decrease in the water of the HCO3 type and an increase in the water of Cl and SO4 types; (2) In 2019, NO3− had higher content than SO42− in the groundwater and became a major anion, forming the water of NO3 type; (2) as indicated by the analytical results obtained using the Mahalanobis distance method, areas with strong anthropogenic influences include densely populated areas and areas with intensively distributed industrial enterprises, while anthropogenic influences are very weak in the northern forest land area

Numerical Investigation into the Evolution of Groundwater Flow and Solute Transport in the Eastern Qaidam Basin since the Last Glacial Period

A complete understanding of groundwater circulation as well as the transport and distribution of solutes in arid-semiarid basin regions is a prerequisite for the safe use of groundwater resources. The distributions of the groundwater flow systema and solutes are affected by the basin morphology, lithology, and climate variations; therefore, they can change over geologic time. In this study, we performed a case study of the Qaidam Basin in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, in which we utilized reactive solute transport simulations to build a numerical model in TOUGHREACT for a typical section of the eastern Qaidam Basin since the last glacial period. The results show that the groundwater in the eastern Qaidam Basin developed into a three-level groundwater flow system and that the seepage velocity of the local water flow system is significantly higher than that of the intermediate and regional water flow systems. Although groundwater in the discharge region has been continuously concentrated and enriched since the last glacial period, the distributions of the groundwater flow system and solutes have been greatly affected by climate variations. During warm periods, the centres of groundwater discharge and solute concentration shifted to areas with more groundwater recharge; in contrast, both centres shifted to the central basin during drought periods. The groundwater in the basin mainly contains Na+ and Cl− ions, which vary significantly from the recharge region to the discharge region. Evaporation of groundwater results in increases in the concentrations of most of the components except HCO3−. The groundwater in the discharge region is currently in the stage of carbonate precipitation and is far from gypsum and halite precipitation

Intelligent decision modeling for optimizing railway cold chain service networks under uncertainty

Railway cold chain service network design (RCC-SND) aims to optimize the utilization of stations and lines as well as train allocations in a manner that minimizes costs while satisfying the service requirements of shippers. Furthermore, the uncertainties associated with freight demand, transportation costs, quality loss, station handling capacity, and arc capacity make the RCC-SND a complex decision-making problem. To tackle this challenge, we first formulate a Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) model to determine hub locations, freight wagon flows, and service frequency. To cope with uncertain parameters with varying degrees of uncertainty incorporated in the model, we extend the problem using fuzzy programming and further convert it to its crisp counterpart. A real-world cases study in Southwest China is performed to validate the proposed model, whose results provide different strategies for decision-makers with varying preferences. There are some main findings: As the number of hubs increases from 5 to 6, a maximum total cost savings of 1.99% can be achieved. Railway operators may opt for different decision preferences, for decisions prioritizing economic efficiency, the cost can decrease by 2.69% compared to deterministic optimization

Analysis on the Effect of Groundwater Overexploitation Control in Water receiving region of the First Phase of the South-North Water Transfer Project

The South-North Water Transfer Project is playing a more and more important role in ensuring economic and social development and maintaining a good ecological environment for north of China. However, long-term over-exploitation of groundwater has caused a series of ecological and environmental problems. The first phase of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project was successfully passed through in 2013 and 2014. The water supplied by this huge project provided critical water source for implementing groundwater overexploitation control. In order to promote the management and protection of groundwater resources, the overdraft areas had adopted comprehensive measures to reduce groundwater extraction, such as accelerating the construction of supporting projects, shutting down groundwater mining wells, improving the groundwater monitoring station network, and reforming the water resources fees and so on. The urban groundwater overexploitation control work has received good progress. Based on the investigation and statistics of groundwater overexploitation control in the water receiving region of the first phase of the South-North Water Transfer Project, it was found that since the first phase of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project passing though, the water groundwater withdrawal decreased by 15.23×108 m3 by making full use of the water from the South-North Water Transfer Project, including 2.36×108 m3 in Beijing, 0.67×108 m3 in Tianjin, 6.39×108 m3 in Hebei, 3.84×108 m3 in Henan, 1.62×108 m3 in Shandong, and 0.35×108 m3 in Jiangsu, respectively. The number of groundwater withdrawal wells closed was 15202, including 331 wells in Beijing, 582 in Tianjin, 4895 in Hebei, 6213 in Henan, 2012 in Shandong, and 1169 eyes in Jiangsu, respectively. In terms of groundwater level, the trend of continuous decline in groundwater level has been effectively curbed in most areas of the water receiving region, however, in some areas the groundwater level is still declining due to the too large cumulative over-exploitation of groundwater. Shijiazhuang City was selected as typical monitoring site to explain the groundwater overexploitation control effect on groundwater level. The analysis of the monitoring data of typical monitoring sites showed that groundwater overexploitation control has a great influence on the groundwater level change in Shijiazhuang urban area. This study also puts forward some problems and suggestions in promoting the groundwater overexploitation control in the water receiving region, and provides reference for the construction of ecological civilization and national water security

Exploring the gamification of cybersecurity education in higher education institutions: An analytical study

Our world has become increasingly dependent on electronic technology. As most economic, cultural, and social activities are conducted in cyberspace, how to protect data from cyberattacks has arisen as a prominent challenge. Cybersecurity education and training that improves awareness among personnel is recognized as an effective approach. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have become prime cyberattack targets as they hold vast amounts of valuable research and personal data. This paper analyses the state of cybersecurity in HEIs and the problems of cybersecurity education, and proposes the solution of gamification of cybersecurity education. A detailed feasibility analysis and recommendations for developing cybersecurity education games are provided. This paper expands the theories of gamified cybersecurity education in China, and sheds light on enhancing the effectiveness of cybersecurity education in HEIs through games

Exploring the gamification of cybersecurity education in higher education institutions: An analytical study

Our world has become increasingly dependent on electronic technology. As most economic, cultural, and social activities are conducted in cyberspace, how to protect data from cyberattacks has arisen as a prominent challenge. Cybersecurity education and training that improves awareness among personnel is recognized as an effective approach. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have become prime cyberattack targets as they hold vast amounts of valuable research and personal data. This paper analyses the state of cybersecurity in HEIs and the problems of cybersecurity education, and proposes the solution of gamification of cybersecurity education. A detailed feasibility analysis and recommendations for developing cybersecurity education games are provided. This paper expands the theories of gamified cybersecurity education in China, and sheds light on enhancing the effectiveness of cybersecurity education in HEIs through games