Huge "regreening" efforts in China over the past few decades have activated the country's water cycle and moved water in ways that scientists are just now starting to understand.

China’s biggest tree-planting effort is the Great Green Wall in the country’s arid and semi-arid north. Started in 1978, the Great Green Wall was created to slow the expansion of deserts. Over the last five decades, it has helped grow forest cover from about 10% of China’s area in 1949 to more than 25%

Collectively, China’s ecosystem restoration initiatives account for 25% of the global net increase in leaf area between 2000 and 2017.

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    “Even though the water cycle is more active, at local scales more water is lost than before,” Staal said.

    This has important implications for water management, because China’s water is already unevenly distributed. The north has about 20% of the country’s water but is home to 46% of the population and 60% of the arable land, according to the study. The Chinese government is trying to address this; however, the measures will likely fail if water redistribution due to regreening isn’t taken into account, Staal and his colleagues argued.