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This study focuses on the water deficit problem of Horqin Sandy Land, located in the West-Liao River catchment, China, where significant depletion of groundwater and strong fluctuation of surface water areas were observed between 1999 and 2007. The goal of the study is to look for a correlation between water deficit, climate change and land surface changes. Landsat ETM+/TM images were used to monitor water surface changes and derive crop coefficient maps and NDVI maps in different years. An overall water balance of a closed catchment in the region leads to the conclusion that the changes observed over the past 10 years are, above all, due to drier climate.