Milestones of Groundwater Management in China

Abstract

Ancient Groundwater Utilization In 1973, archeologists discovered the earliest well in China so far at the Hemudu Neolithic Cultural Site in Zhejiang Province, China. The well has square wooden pile walls, and a square wooden frame is supported inside to prevent the pile walls from collapsing inward. The purpose of drilling wells is to provide people with drinking water since 5000–7000 years ago. The management of groundwater begins with its exploitation and utilization. Eight wells have been discovered in the archeological site of the Xizhou Dynasty in Zhangjiapo, Shaanxi Province, some are rectangular, others are oval, and more than 9 m deep. Such a dense group of wells was not only used for human and livestock drinking, but also for farmland irrigation. The Karez Well System in the Turpan area of Xinjiang appeared between 200 and 300 BC, and it has been used to irrigate farmland until recently in some areas of modern Xinjiang. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, Shaanxi officials supervised the drilling of wells and irrigated fields; there were 150,000 wells in 1737. Achievements in Shaanxi, located in arid and semiarid regions, have greatly promoted the development of groundwater utilization in well irrigation. As people began to rely more on groundwater sources, they discovered that some wells contained water with high levels of salt content, making it unsuitable for drinking. This increase in halogen elements in the water was due to the natural element background value. In response, people began to extract salt from these wells, giving rise to the production of “well salt.” Zigong, located in the western Sichuan Basin, was particularly well-suited for this industry due to its high concentration of groundwater. As a result, it became