Shandong recently signed the Supplementary Agreement on Joint Prevention and Control of Land Subsidence in the North China Plain with Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Henan, marking the start of joint prevention and control of land subsidence in the North China Plain by the three provinces and two municipalities of North China. At present, the land subsidence area in Shandong Province has reached 13,200 square kilometers. The subsidence area in northern Shandong has merged with the land subsidence in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, causing a series of geological environmental problems such as building foundation settlement and seawater (saline water) intrusion.
Land subsidence is a regional, slowly developing geological disaster with a large impact area, often spanning multiple administrative regions, and requires overall deployment and coordinated advancement of prevention and control work in adjacent areas. It is understood that the land subsidence area in Shandong Province has now reached 13,200 square kilometers, accounting for about one quarter of the province's plain land area. The subsidence area in northern Shandong has merged with the land subsidence in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, and the total area of land subsidence has exceeded 4,000 square kilometers. It has caused a series of geological environmental problems such as building foundation settlement, house cracking, damage to underground pipelines, rising well pipes, ground fissures, and seawater (saline water) intrusion. If multi-departmental and multi-regional joint prevention and control are not adopted, the rate and scope of land subsidence will inevitably intensify.
It is reported that the three provinces and two municipalities of North China, through carrying out land subsidence investigation, monitoring, and groundwater extraction reduction and recharge with unified standards, spatial alignment, and coordinated schedules, will strengthen cause analysis and research, integrate subsidence prevention and control objectives, align management measures, and gradually achieve a new working mechanism featuring shared monitoring data and information resources, coordinated departmental cooperation and regional linkage, and clear and consistent task objectives, jointly advancing land subsidence prevention and control work.