This book is a unique text that explores recent research on the management of sustainable groundwater use in the North China Plain (NCP), where aquifers are suffering the most severe over?pumping in the world and have caused serious ecological degradation. It contains research conducted by the editor and his teams on several projects over the past 18 years.

Key topics covered include:

• comprehensive scheme and pathways to achieve sustainable groundwater management
• description of theoretical basis for water saving and technologies developed in practice at field scale
• adjusting cropping patterns and planting structure to reduce the cultivation intensity to a suitable extent
• soft measures such as water metering, pricing, and water marketing being applied in groundwater management practice in the NCP

It will be an invaluable resource to graduate students, education and research staff, and agriculture or water resources authorities.