Modification of regional groundwater regimes by land reclamation

JJ.Jiao Land reclamation has played a significant role in the urban development process in many coastal areas in the world. While reclamation provides valuable land, it also creates various coastal engineering, environmental and marine ecological problems. These problems directly caused by reclamation have been well recognized and widely studied. However, it has not been recognized yet that reclamation will almost certainly change the regional groundwater regime, in tum causing similar problems. This paper represents the first attempt to address the impact of reclamation on groundwater regimes. It will be demonstrated that large-scale of reclamation will increase groundwater level, modify the groundwater divide, and alter submaririe groundwater discharge to the coast. The change of groundwater conditions will cause engineering and environmental problems by modifying the infiltration capacity, flooding pattern, stability of slopes and foundations, interface between sea water and groundwater, and the coastal marine environment. This paper suggests that, for a major reclamation project, the change of the hydrogeological system in response to reclamation should be evaluated so that the disturbance to groundwater regimes and the damage to environment might be minimised. fi4mtPJmt!:tw....t~:P7jtm!t!!-m;JJt~WftEtJ±!t!! • &fl:iJ~-tE.srre~:v?~mim. ~!im.tm #~n~mo~~rn~m~m~~Et'J~M*~mA~~TM·~•~mA~ffi~~offi ~mttc&~?l$!t!!T*M ~ · ~ffiJPJtfEra~msrre...t~rc~m~-JJl~~HH:PmA~TM