Characteristics of groundwater flow field after land creation engineering in the hilly and gully area of the Loess Plateau

In order to study the degree of influence and control mechanism to groundwater flow field caused by land creation engineering in the hilly and gully area of the Loess Plateau, based on the geological and engineering conditions of the first stage project of Yan’an new district in China, numerical simulation of groundwater flow is carried out by the Feflow and GIS technologies. From the simulation, punning measure relatively reduces infiltration recharge and artificial gravel drain increases groundwater seepage. The basic characteristics of groundwater flow field is controlled by the old and new topographies in the whole study area, and artificial gravel drain plays an auxiliary role in accelerating groundwater drawdown upstream and promotes groundwater rise downstream. According to differences of groundwater level and declining percentages of hydraulic gradient in the main and secondary gullies, dewatering of artificial gravel drain in the secondary gully is more effective than that in the main gully, which will yet play an important role in the future. The study results will make contributions to understand groundwater response to land creation engineering and will be beneficial to take necessary measures to prevent collapse of loess and failure of building foundation in the hilly and gully area of the Loess Plateau.