Hydrochemical Insights Into the Genesis and Resource Prospects of Mineral Groundwater in the High‐Altitude Baishushan Valley on Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

ABSTRACT Mineral water resources in high‐altitude regions are prized for their ultraclean character, stable chemical composition, and beneficial trace elements. However, their hydrochemical evolution and natural baselines remain poorly constrained. A representative intermontane valley in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau is investigated by integrating hydrochemical and statistical analyses of groundwater samples. The water is uniformly low total dissolved solids (TDS) (averaging 426.6 mg/L), neutral to slightly alkaline, and of HCO 3 ‐Ca type, with minimal spatial variation. Silicate weathering dominates solute acquisition, whereas cation exchange modifies cation ratios; evaporite dissolution is negligible. In addition, strontium concentrations consistently meet the Chinese natural mineral water standard (≥ 0.2 mg/L), characterizing the groundwater as strontium‐rich mineral water. The entropy‐weighted water quality index (EWQI) ranks all samples as Good (mean: 55.02), with most approaching the Excellent threshold, and conventional physicochemical parameters fully comply with WHO and Chinese drinking‐water guidelines, confirming the high natural baseline quality. Sustainable management should prioritize proactive protection measures, including recharge‐zone protection areas, early‐warning monitoring systems, and extraction constraints that respect the aquifer's near‐equilibrium carbonate mineral saturation to prevent hydrochemical shifts, while also accommodating downstream water demands. The findings provide a scientific foundation for the rational development and long‐term preservation of mineral water resources in this and analogous alpine basins.