The degradation of China's groundwater environment associated with the rapid socio-economic development of the nation has attracted increasing attention from the Chinese government and public. Studying the groundwater environmental capacity has great significance in protecting the groundwater environment. Utilising the city of Nantong as a case study, this research adopted groundwater level, groundwater quality and land subsidence as evaluation indicators. It also assumed the allowable groundwater yield as the critical value for groundwater environmental capacity. Then, a finite element numerical model was developed which coupled groundwater flow, land subsidence and freshwater salinisation. Calibration then followed using the available groundwater level, groundwater quality and land subsidence measurements, and the model was used to evaluate groundwater environmental capacity under these three control objectives. Predictions show that groundwater environmental capacity, if rationally exploited groundwater, could be reached to around 11090.32xl〇4m3/a and meet the control objectives. The results provide a theoretical basis for the rational utilisation of groundwater resources and the protection of the water environment.
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