Groundwater storage (GWS) in the Haihe River Basin (HRB), which is one of the most densely populated and largest agricultural areas in China, is of great importance for the ecosystem environment and socio-economic development. In recent years, large-scale overexploitation of groundwater in HRB has made it one of the global hotspots of GWS depletion. In this study, monthly GWS variations in HRB from 2003 to 2020 were estimated using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) data in combination with three land surface models (LSMs) from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS). The results show the following: (1) HRB suffered extensive GWS depletion from 2003 to 2020, which has been aggravated since 2014, with a mean rate of 1.88 cm·yr⁻¹, which is equivalent to a volume of 6 billion m³·yr⁻¹. The GWS depletion is more serious in the plain zone (−2.36 cm·yr⁻¹) than in the mountainous zone (−1.63 cm·yr⁻¹). (2) Climate changes are excluded from the reasons for GWS depletion due to annual precipitation and evaporation being close to normal throughout the period. In addition, GWS changes show a low correlation with meteorological factors. (3) The consumption of groundwater for irrigation and land use/cover changes have been confirmed to be the dominant factors for GWS depletion in HRB. (4) The effects of inter-basin water transfer projects cannot be obviously observed using the GRACE and GRACE-FO; more inter-basin water transfers are needed for recovering the GWS in HRB. Therefore, it is imperative to control groundwater exploitation and develop a more economical agricultural irrigation structure for the sustainability of groundwater resources in HRB.

Quantitative assessment of the terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes and the major driving factors have been hindered by the lack of direct observations in Inner Mongolia, China. In this study, the spatial and temporal changes of TWS and groundwater storage (GWS) in Inner Mongolia during 2003–2021 were evaluated using the satellite gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and the GRACE Follow On combined with data from land surface models. The results indicated that Inner Mongolia has experienced a widespread TWS loss of approximately 1.82 mm/yr from 2003–2021, with a more severe depletion rate of 4.15 mm/yr for GWS. Meteorological factors were the driving factors for water storage changes in northeastern and western regions. The abundant precipitation increased TWS in northeast regions at 2.36 mm/yr. Anthropogenic activities (agricultural irrigation and coal mining) were the driving factors for water resource decline in the middle and eastern regions (especially in the agropastoral transitional zone), where the decrease rates were 4.09 mm/yr and 3.69 mm/yr, respectively. In addition, the severities of hydrological drought events were identified based on water storage deficits, with average severity values of 17 mm, 18 mm, 24 mm, and 33 mm for the west, middle, east, and northeast regions, respectively. This study established a basic framework for water resource changes in Inner Mongolia and provided a scientific foundation for further water resources investigation.

In the Inner Mongolia Plateau Lake Zone (IMP), situated in China’s semi-arid region, its lake water storage change plays a critical role in wetland ecosystem conservation and regional water security through its lake water storage dynamics. To investigate long-term lake water storage (LWS) changes, this study proposes a novel lake monitoring framework that reconstructs historical lake level time series and estimates water level variations in lakes without altimetry data. Using multi-source satellite data, we quantified LWS variations (2000–2021) across 109 lakes (≥5 km²) on the IMP and examined their spatiotemporal patterns. Our results reveal a net decline of 1.21 Gt in total LWS over the past two decades, averaging 0.06 Gt/yr. A distinct shift occurred around 2012: LWS decreased by 10.82 Gt from 2000 to 2012 but increased by 9.61 Gt from 2013 to 2021. Spatially, significant LWS reductions were concentrated in the central and eastern IMP, resulting from intensive water diversion and groundwater exploitation. In contrast, increases were observed mainly in the western and southern regions, driven by enhanced precipitation and reduced aridity. The findings improve understanding of lake dynamics in semi-arid China over the last two decades and offer technical guidance for sustainable water resource management.