Numerical modeling of regional groundwater flow in the Heihe River Basin, China: Advances and new insights

Numerical groundwater modeling is an effective tool to guide water resources management and explore complex groundwater-dependent ecosystems in arid regions. In the Heihe River Basin (HRB), China’s second largest inland river basin located in arid northwest China, a series of groundwater flow models have been developed for those purposes over the past 20 years. These models have elucidated the characteristics of groundwater flow systems and provided the scientific basis for a more sustainable management of groundwater resources and ecosystem services. The first part of this paper presents an overview of previous groundwater modeling studies and key lessons learned based on seven different groundwater models in the middle and lower HRB at sub-basin scales. The second part reviews the rationale for development of a regional basin-scale groundwater flow model that unifies previous sub-basin models. In addition, this paper discusses the opportunities and challenges in developing a regional groundwater flow model in an arid river basin such as the HRB.