China’s vegetation restoration linked to groundwater drought from 2003 to 2015

China began a large-scale vegetation restoration programme in 1999 to improve the environment. On the Loess Plateau, however, the rapid growth of vegetation coincided with a decline in groundwater storage and worsening groundwater drought. The region in north-west China already faces frequent droughts and severe water shortages, making the availability of groundwater important for vegetation and the wider ecosystem. Researchers studied this relationship between 2003 and 2015 to understand how expanding vegetation affected groundwater drought.According to research published in the Journal of Hydrology titled ‘Effects of vegetation restoration on groundwater drought in the Loess Plateau, China’, vegetation growth had a stronger association with groundwater drought than weather conditions.How did groundwater drought change during vegetation restoration on the Loess PlateauThe Loess Plateau experienced rapid vegetation growth from 2003 to 2015, while groundwater storage declined significantly. The researchers found that this decrease was statistically significant, with a p-value below 0.01. Groundwater drought also intensified during this period, affecting a larger area and becoming mo...