Decline in regional groundwater level and related environment problems in the head water area of the Yellow River

This paper mainly focuses on the relationship between the groundwater head decline and the ecologic environmental deterioration in the head water area of the Yellow River.Field survey of downward shift of the spring vents,discharge belts,shrink of the marsh and monitoring data of regional groundwater level suggest that regional groundwater level decline was mainly attributed to natural factors and human activities.Moreover,human impacts on the groundwater level behave as indirect disturbance.The environmental problems resulted from decline of groundwater level include two aspects: the first one is intensification of regional desertification and the other is the occurrence of zero-flow of the Yellow River in its head water area.