The Minqin Oasis (MO), located in the northeast of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu province, is one of the important sandstorm sources in China. Groundwater exploitation in the MO area is intense, and groundwater levels therefore fluctuate significantly throughout the year. 

Recently, researchers from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed changes of the groundwater recharge process and recharge source contributions in the MO area before and after ecological management. 

The study was published in Hydrological Processes on Dec. 17. 

They found that the groundwater recharge mechanisms of oasis changed significantly after ecological management. 

The results suggest that the biggest contribution of groundwater recharge in confined shallow aquifer in MO area is overflow water before ecological management. 

However, surface water has become the main source of groundwater recharge in the MO after more than a decade of ecological management, including ecological water transmission projects, water-saving agricultural practices and strategies to reduce the number of irrigation wells. 

Through the ecological management measures, surface water can recharge groundwater in a real sense, which is conducive to the stable recovery of oasis ecological environment. 

However, the contribution of groundwater irrigation infiltration has been relatively high and shows an increasing trend, which indicates that it is still necessary to continue to control the over-exploitation of groundwater. 

In addition, the lateral flow recharge of groundwater does not change much, indicating that the available water resources in the upper and middle reaches of the basin also affect the changes in groundwater levels in the lower reaches. 

This study has a new understanding of the mechanism of groundwater recharge change in MO area from the perspective of environmental change, and provides a theoretical basis for further formulating reasonable and applicable water resource management strategies and realizing the harmonious environmental relationship between human and nature in desert oasis.