This critical water source, which sustains agricultural irrigation, urban water supplies and ecological security for hundreds of millions of people in more than a dozen downstream countries, is depleting at a staggering rate of approximately 24.2 billion tons per year. PHYs.Org reported.
Led by Prof. Wang Shudong of the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS), the study addresses the challenges of data scarcity and complex terrain in the region. Its findings were recently published in Environmental Research Letters.
The research team developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assessment model by integrating multi-source satellite observations, Earth system modeling and explainable AI. This enabled them to reconstruct two decades of groundwater storage (GWS) changes, identify the dominant driving factors, and conduct forward-looking risk scenario analyses.
The study finds that roughly two-thirds of HMA experienced groundwater storage declines between 2003 and 2020. The most significant drops were recorded in densely populated, irrigation-intensive downstream basins, including the Ganges–Brahmaputra, Indus and Amu Darya basins. By contrast, some high-elevation inland regions saw localized recoveries in groundwater storage.
